AP High Court Dismisses Cases Challenging GO on In-Service Quota Seats in PG Medical Education

The High Court has dismissed cases challenging Government Order (GO) 85, issued by the state government on July 20, regarding the allocation of in-service quota seats for admissions to PG medical education. The ruling was delivered by a bench comprising Chief Justice Dheeraj Singh Thakur and Justice R. Raghunandan Rao on Thursday.

The court noted that the notification for PG medical admissions was issued following the GO, which finalized the percentage of PG seats allocated. It stated that the determination of seat quotas is a policy decision by the government, and the courts will only intervene if the decision is deemed unilateral. Consequently, the cases were dismissed.

GO 85 allocates 15% of PG clinical seats and 30% of non-clinical seats to doctors who have served in tribal, rural, and urban health centers (in-service), out of the 50% quota reserved by the state government. Some doctors filed lawsuits in the High Court regarding this issue.

During the hearing, the petitioners' lawyers argued that the percentage of clinical seats was reduced from 30% to 15%, and non-clinical seats from 50% to 30%. They contended that the PG admission notification was issued in April, whereas GO 85 was released later in July, and requested that the GO be revoked.

However, the Advocate General, Dammalapati Srinivas, representing the state government, clarified that the PG admission notification was actually issued on September 27, well after the GO was established on July 20. After reviewing the arguments presented, the bench concluded that the cases would be dismissed.