Government Order on medical seat vacancy stayed by Hyderabad HC

Hyderabad: An Andhra Pradesh Government Order(GO), which mandates filling of vacancy of a medical seat by a student from the reserved category, only if the vacancy arises due to the decision of the student from the reserved category to move from the seat secured by him in open category, was stayed by a High Court division bench, on Wednesday.

The bench that stayed this order comprises of Justice T. Rajani and Justice V. Ramasubramanian.

The bench issued the stay on GO Ms 550 para 5(2) in response to a petition filed by Harshvardhan and others. The petitioners while pleading to the court stated that some reserved category students on the basis of their NEET ranking were allotted seats falling in open category (non-reserved), to which they said they had no objections. However, what they had reservations about was the fact that these students after the allotment had moved to another town and college, leaving the seats already allotted to them vacant, with a question mark on who the seats were to be now allotted.

The petitioners wondered whether the vacancy created was to be filled by any student based on NEET rank or by a reserved category student alone.

Contending that since the seat was an open category one, it should be thrown open to all, they complained that the GO stated that such seats are to be filled by students from the reserved category only. The reason that was given was that they were vacated by students of the reserved category, who now had the option to exercise a better choice.

The bench after hearing their plea decided that the GO would affect the 50% ceiling on a reservation in the state. The case will be coming up for hearing on 18^th September, reports The Hindu.