Telangana High Court rules for transgender reservation in law admissions

The Telangana High Court on Friday directed the Telangana Council for Higher Education, The Convenor TG LAWCET and PGLCET 2024, Bar Council of India and Osmania University to treat transgender candidates as a separate category entitled to horizontal reservation in law course admissions.

By Legal Correspondent

Hyderabad: 1. The Telangana High Court on Friday directed the Telangana Council for Higher Education, The Convenor TG LAWCET and PGLCET 2024, Bar Council of India and Osmania University to treat transgender candidates as a separate category entitled to horizontal reservation in law course admissions. The Division bench comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J Sreenivas Rao were dealing with a writ plea filed by Mallula Nagasri challenging the validity of Rule 7 of the Telangana Law Courses (Regulation of Admissions into 3-year and 5-year LL.B/B.L. Courses through Common Entrance Test) Rules, 2006, and the notification dated July 24, 2024. A. Satyasiri, counsel for the petitioner contended that petitioner belongs to the Backward Class (B) category, and that the existing rules failed to provide horizontal reservation for transgender persons, placing them on par with other candidates in the same caste group. The counsel highlighted the Supreme Court’s decision in the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) v. Union of India, which mandates the inclusion of transgender persons in the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) and directs the extension of reservations to them in educational institutions and public appointments. The bench after considering the said submissions, by relying on the said Apex court judgment directed respondents to classify the petitioner as a transgender candidate and provide the benefits of admission to the LL.B. course accordingly. Additionally, petitioner will be entitled to the reservation benefits applicable to the Backward Class (B) category, the court said.

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2. Justice T. Vinod Kumar of the Telangana High Court admitted a writ petition seeking directions to the convenor of Telangana LAWCET and PGLCET 2024 at Osmania University to recognize a student as a local candidate in the Telangana LAWCET examination. Polakatla Babu Jagjeevan, approached the court as he was qualified as a local candidate, having been native of Telangana. The petitioner contends that he is eligible as local candidate based on the permanent residency of his parents in Telangana and his education from Nursery to Intermediate within the state. Ramesh chilla counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner pursued a four-year B.Sc. (Hons) Agriculture degree at Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth in Dapoli, Maharashtra, through the All India Entrance Examination conducted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) under the National Testing Agency (NTA). The counsel argued that, even if the petitioner is not meeting the requirement of seven consecutive years of study in Telangana, the petitioner should be deemed a local candidate according to the government order outlined in the university’s admission prospectus. The petitioner sought directions to respondents authorities to consider the him as a local candidate for admission to the 3-year LLB program. The judge by considering the said submissions directed notices and posted the matter to August 27 for further hearing.