Should There be Sports Quota for MBBS Admissions? Hyderabad HC to decide

Hyderabad: The double bench Chief Justice TBN Radhakrishnan and Justice V Ramasubramanian, the two-judge bench of the Hyderabad High Court recently heard a writ filed by students seeking undergraduate Medical course admissions which challenges the Government order passed by the Telangana government on sports quota.

In an earlier story done by Medical Dialogues, it was reported that the Telangana Government had received directions from the Hyderabad High Court, to not admit anyone into medical courses under the sports quota for the current academic year.

Taken aback at odd names like, sepak takraw, modern pentathlon, lawn bowls and wushu, which were part of the eligible sport category for course admissions, Justices Kongara Vijaya Lakshmi and V Ramasubramanian said that it was better to not have sports quota for admission, than have fictitious sportsmen seeking admissions into medical courses, without having participated in any sports competition.

"If we allow such games and sports, then it will be a cakewalk for such champions to secure medical seats under sports quota and no wonder the authorities may very well introduce 'cakewalk' as a new sport from the next year," the bench said.

Commenting sarcastically, the court stated that the state's list of eligible sport only excluded video games.

B Rachna Reddy, the petitioners' counsel, said that the directive to not take in anyone under the sports quota into MBBS courses was issued after the NEET exam had been conducted and results announced, as well as the counselling notification issued for the 2018-19 academic year; thus making it applicable after the exam had been conducted, which she defined as- illegal.

Read also: Sports quota scrapped in MBBS admissions in Telangana by Hyderabad HC

The counsel's plea was to include sports common in the State and country in the GO. The bench asked the petitioner's counsel to delve into legal provisions, which give preference to sports quota over merit reports Telangana Today.