Supreme Court Weighs In on Telangana's Domicile Policy for Medical College Admissions

The Supreme Court has urged Telangana to reconsider its domicile policy for medical college admissions for the current academic year. The court is examining whether to put the policy on hold and asked the state to consider implementing it from the next session. A bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud reviewed the high court's judgment favoring residents who studied outside the state.

On Monday, the Supreme Court expressed that Telangana has a 'legitimate interest' in enforcing domicile requirements for medical college admissions. However, the court has urged the state government to consider delaying the policy's implementation until the next academic year.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra advised senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing Telangana, to weigh the social implications of the current rules. They recommended notifying all students and mulling whether these rules could take effect starting next year.

The court was reviewing an appeal from Telangana against a high court ruling that permanent residents could not be denied admission benefits because they lived out-of-state or did not study in state schools for the past four years. The state government had agreed to a one-time exception for 135 students in this context.

(With inputs from agencies.)