Latest news with #TelanganaHighCourt
The Hindu
4 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
HC notices over appointment of TS Wage Advisory Board chairman, member
Telangana High Court on Thursday issued notices to the State government in a PIL petition seeking a direction to set aside appointment of B. Janak Prasad and S. Narasimha Reddy as chairman and member respectively of the Telangana State Wage Advisory Board. A bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice P. Sam Koshy instructed the government to respond within four weeks over the points raised in the petition challenging issuance of GO 443 appointing the board chairman and member. The petitioner Ganji Raju's counsel Chikkudu Prabhakar contended that their appointment was made in violation of Section 8 (2) and 9 of the Minimum Wages Act 1948. It was also against the spirit of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution. According to him, the chairman and members of the wage board should be independent members. They should not hold position in any other office, he argued. While Janak Prasad was the secretary general of the Singareni Coal Mines Labour Union (affiliated to the INTUC) and official spokesperson of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee, S. Narasimha Reddy was the vice-president of the same union. Their appointment should be declared arbitrary and illegal, the counsel said.
New Indian Express
10 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Telangana High Court deadline looms: State stuck awaiting Governor's approval for 42% BC quota
HYDERABAD: With just a few days left before the High Court-mandated deadline to finalise reservations for local body elections ends, the state administration finds itself in a tight spot. At the heart of the delay lies the pending approval of the Telangana Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025 by Governor Jishnu Dev Varma, a critical legislative instrument required to enforce the state government's decision to enhance Backward Class reservations to 42%. Officials involved in the electoral process now fear that they may face contempt of court proceedings if reservations for ward members and sarpanches are not declared within the court-set time frame. On June 25, the Telangana High Court directed the state government, State Election Commission (SEC) and other authorities concerned to complete the reservation process within 30 days. 'The state has taken a policy decision to increase reservations, which cannot be implemented without the Governor's assent to the ordinance. That's what has held us back,' a senior official familiar with the issue said on condition of anonymity. The court has also set another binding date — September 30 — as the deadline to complete the local body election process. If reservation lists are not notified immediately, officials opine that the entire election schedule may fall apart. 'Once the ordinance is cleared, we can issue reservations and proceed. But unless that happens soon, the timeline becomes impossible,' said an officer directly involved in election preparations. The uncertainty underscores a broader governance challenge — the intersection of legal directives, and political policy decisions. As the clock ticks, both the administration and the Election Commission are in wait-and-watch mode, with rising anxiety about the implications of further delay.
New Indian Express
14 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Telangana HC allows students to apply for MBBS, BDS under Competent Quota despite 4-year rule
HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court, headed by Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice P Sam Koshy, has passed interim orders in a batch of 34 writ petitions, directing the state government and Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences to permit petitioners to apply for MBBS/BDS courses under the Competent Quota for the academic year 2025-26. The petitions challenged the validity of Rule 3(a) of the Telangana Medical & Dental Colleges Admission Rules, 2017, as amended by GO Ms. No 33, dated July 19, 2024. This rule requires candidates to have studied or resided in the state for at least four consecutive academic years prior to admission to be considered local candidates. Petitioners have contended that the rule is arbitrary and violates Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution of India. They also pointed out division bench rulings, dated August 29, 2023, and September 5, 2024, which held that the four-year study/residency requirement lacked a rational nexus with the objective of the 2017 Rules. In Kalluri Naga Narasimha Abhiram & others vs state of Telangana, the high court had already interpreted Rule 3(a) to include students domiciled or permanently residing in Telangana, even if they have not studied in the state for four years. The court also noted that the government had failed to frame rules or guidelines to determine domicile or permanent residence status, despite being granted liberty to do so.
The Hindu
a day ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Telangana HC permits petitioners to apply as local candidates for MBBS, BDS admissions
Telangana High Court on Wednesday directed the State government and the Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences to permit 34 students as 'local candidates' to apply for admission into MBBS/BDS courses for 2025-26. These students appeared for NEET UG 2025 and were aspiring for admission into undergraduate medical and dental programmes. A bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar and Justice P. Sam Koshy, pronouncing the interim direction, instructed the authorities to allow these students to be registered as residents from Telangana. The applications of these candidates may also be processed. They should not be rejected on the ground of having not studied in Telangana preceding four consecutive years of the qualifying examination. Posting the matter to July 30 for next hearing, the bench said that, however, the applications of these students would be subject to outcome of their respective writ petitions. The issue of admissions into MBBS/BDS courses under competent quota got embroiled in litigation since the then State government issued G.O. no. 114 in 2017. Eighty-five per cent of seats under competent authority quota are reserved for 'local' candidates. The G.O. mandated that for a student to be eligible to avail local candidate quota, he or she should have studied for four consecutive years in Telangana preceding the qualifying examination. That meant the student claiming local quota should have studied class 9 and 10 along with intermediate first and second years consecutively within Telangana. For example, a student who was born and brought up in Telangana and studied from class 1 to 10 in Telangana but studied Intermediate in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh or any other State would not be eligible to apply for admission into MBBS/BDS as local candidate. With some students challenging this, the HC set aside the G.O. Again in 2024, the officials brought in G.O. no.33 with the same content. On July 18, a student moved the HC challenging the G.O. and seeking a direction to allow her to apply as local candidate. Senior counsel Rao contended that she had a strong case since the HC earlier (for the academic years 2023-24 and 2024-25) permitted students to apply as local candidates though they did not study in Telangana for four consecutive years preceding qualifying exam. A division bench directed the authorities to permit her to apply as local candidate. On Wednesday, 34 more students moved the HC with similar plea. The bench headed by the Chief Justice directed that the orders issued on July 18 were being extended in the fresh writ petitions as well.
Indian Express
a day ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Telangana High Court tells KNRUHS to consider 32 students as ‘local' candidates in interim order
In an interim order, the Telangana High Court directed the Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS) and the Government on Wednesday to consider a group of 32 students as 'local' candidates for registration in the admission process pending the adjudication of a petition. A bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice P Sam Koshy was hearing a batch of petitions that challenged the notification and dated July 15, 2025, issued by the KNRUHS, mandating a four-year study or residency period in Telangana to be considered a 'local' candidate status for admission into undergraduate courses. The petitioners contended that the registration process would end by July 25, and that they might not be able to participate in the counselling process unless the university treated them as 'local' candidates. The constitutional and legal validity of Rule 3 (a) of the Telangana Medical and Dental Colleges Admission (Admission into MBBS and BDS courses) Rules 2017, as amended vide government order Ms 33 of the health, medical, and family welfare department, dated July 19, 2024, has been challenged as being violative of Articles 14, 19, and 21 of Constitution of India. Senior counsel B Mayur Reddy and advocate Alluri Divakar Reddy, who represented 28 of the 32 petitioners, relied on division bench orders of 2023 and 2024 to state that the Rule 3 (a) was read down by the division bench last year with an interpretation that it shall also include permanent residents of Telangana, without applying the four-year condition. The high court had then granted liberty to the Government to frame specific guidelines for determining domicile or permanent residence. The court further held that the university shall consider cases of students who claim to be eligible under the aforesaid guidelines. The petitioners alleged that the directives remained unfulfilled even a year later. Instead, the state preferred an appeal against the 2023 and 2024 orders last year and received an interim stay on the operation of the court order. However, the stay was granted only after the state admitted before the Supreme Court that the petitioners would be considered as 'local' candidates for counselling. They argued that the 2025 prospectus continues to rely on the old criteria and students who are otherwise permanent residents or domiciles of Telangana were being unfairly excluded due to the rigid interpretation of Rule 3(a). On Wednesday, the court observed that interim directions were issued on Friday for the Telangana Government and the KNRUHS to permit the students to register for admission as local candidates. The bench extended the same relief to present petitioners and made clear that the same would be subject to the final outcome of the matter. Rahul V Pisharody is an Assistant Editor with the Indian Express Online and has been reporting from Telangana on various issues since 2019. Besides a focused approach to big news developments, Rahul has a keen interest in stories about Hyderabad and its inhabitants and looks out for interesting features on the city's heritage, environment, history culture etc. His articles are straightforward and simple reads in sync with the context. Rahul started his career as a journalist in 2011 with The New Indian Express and worked in different roles at the Hyderabad bureau for over 8 years. As Deputy Metro Editor, he was in charge of the Hyderabad bureau of the newspaper and coordinated with the team of district correspondents, centres and internet desk for over three years. A native of Palakkad in Kerala, Rahul has a Master's degree in Communication (Print and New Media) from the University of Hyderabad and a Bachelor's degree in Business Management from PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore. Long motorcycle rides and travel photography are among his other interests. ... Read More
