Hyderabad: Justice V. Ramasubramanian and Justice Anis on a division bench of the Hyderabad High Court on Wednesday ruled that Presidential Order arising out of article 371-D of constitution of India which gives reservation to local candidates in educational institutions in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is not applicable to management quota seats (B category) in private medical colleges offering MBBS and BDS courses.

Several students challenged the decision of Association of Private Medical Managements of both the states which declared that the seats in B category will be filled on merit as per ranking obtained in NEET and any students from India can apply. However, their contention as rejected by the bench as AP and Telangana government told the court in unequivocal terms that the presidential order is not applicable to B category seats in private medical colleges.

The bench pointed out that the presidential order speaks about the institutions which are under control of state government and these colleges cannot be termed as institutions under the control of the government

It may be recalled that petitioners said that all seats must be given to AP and Telangana students only as per the presidential order issued under Article 371-D.

The bench pointed out that the presidential order speaks about the institutions which are under control of state government and these colleges cannot be termed as institutions under the control of the government.

The bench said that after the judgments of Supreme Court there is change in the principles governing medical education and rejected the petitions. The order was dictated in open court and the final copy is not yet available.

Government’s stand on the issue was questioned by Telangana Congress alleging that it succumbed to the pressures of the private medical colleges.

“NEET cannot be applied to management seats in view of the existing 371 D clause for admissions and those norms have to be followed,” said Dasoju Shravan, TPCC spokesperson.