Telangana HC allows Lambadi student to join NEET counselling

Aarthi's name had been included in the list of people ineligible to claim Telangana ST reservation on the grounds that they had migrated from other states.

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has directed Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS) to allow a Lambadi NEET aspirant to participate in the second phase of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) counselling as a local candidate, subject to the outcome of the writ petition.

A bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin passed the interim order on Sunday, September 13, while hearing a petition filed by Chawan Aarthi, who challenged her exclusion from the Telangana Scheduled Tribe quota.

The petitioner’s counsel, Prabhakar Chikkudu, said that the University had included Aarthi’s name in the list of people ineligible to claim Telangana ST reservation because they had migrated from other states, Telangana Today reported.

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He argued that the petitioner’s parents had been issued community certificates from the competent authority in Vikarabad, recognising them as members of the Lambadis-28 (ST) community. 

Aarthi had also completed the past four years of her studies in Telangana institutions, he said.

The University, however, relying on the Supreme Court order in Marri Chandra Shekhar Rao v Dean, Seth GS Medical College, argued that the petitioner figured in the list of people who had migrated from Karnataka and Maharashtra and was not entitled to Telangana ST reservation.

They also pointed to a letter in which Aarthi had allegedly stated that she did not want to claim Telangana ST benefits as her caste was recognised under the Scheduled Caste category in Karnataka.

The Assistant Government Pleader for the Social Welfare Department submitted that the Vikarabad Tahsildar was the competent authority to issue the community certificates and sought time to file a counter-affidavit.

The court noted that prima facie, her certificates and records warranted allowing her to participate in the counselling process. It directed the University and the Social Welfare Departments to file counter-affidavits and posted the matter for September 30.