Telangana High Court grants relief to PG medical students

Directs the colleges to refrain from demanding the balance fee; confines the relief to students who approached the court

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court bench comprising acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Renuka Yara granted relief to post-graduate medical students from various medical colleges in the State directing the colleges not to demand the balance fee and ordered that the students who are before court be allowed to attend classes without paying the remaining fee.

The students filed writ appeals challenging the common order dated December 27, 2024, which dismissed a series of writ petitions questioning the significant hike in tuition fees for Post Graduate Medical and Dental courses in Telangana.

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The writ petitions were filed by students and their representatives in response to Government Orders (G.Os) which substantially increased the tuition fees for the 2023-2026 block period. The new fee structure saw an increase in tuition fees for Management quota seats from Rs. 5.8 lakh to up to Rs. 24 lakh per year, and for Convenor quota seats, from Rs. 3.2 lakh to up to Rs. 7.75 lakh per year.Students brought to the court’s attention that in the previous block period (2020-2023), the Telangana High Court had directed colleges to collect only 50-60% of the notified fees while the cases were pending.

Furthermore, an interim direction was issued in the present case to collect only 60-70% of the fees. However, the colleges were now demanding the students pay the balance fee and were not allowing them to attend classes unless the full fee was paid.

After hearing the arguments, the court directed the colleges to refrain from demanding the balance fee while confining the relief to the students who approached the court. The bench adjourned the case by 10 days for further hearing.