Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh High Court has allowed candidates who were allotted MBBS seats in the first and second phases of counselling to retain their present colleges as options while also exercising choices for other colleges in the third phase.
The relief followed a clarification by Dr NTR University of Health Sciences during a hearing before a division bench comprising Chief Justice Lisa Gill and Justice Challa Gunaranjan on Tuesday.
The case was filed by a BC-B category candidate who had joined Guntur Medical College under the reserved category in the first phase.
The petitioner alleged that during the second phase, the web portal deactivated other college options after he selected the college where he had already joined, preventing him from being considered for a seat under the meritorious reserved candidate category.
Petitioner’s counsel Tagore Yadav Yaragorla argued that the university’s notification allowed candidates to exercise options for all colleges.
He referred to Rule 6 (ix) (b) of the Admission Rules, 2004, as substituted by GO Ms 102 dated July 30, 2026, which provided for options in colleges of the candidate’s choice in each phase.
He argued that a software restriction could not take away the right conferred on candidates under the rules and the notification.
However, NTR University of Health Sciences counsel Sreedevi denied that the web portal had disabled any options.
She clarified that candidates allotted a college in an earlier phase could exercise options for every other college in the third phase of counselling.
Based on the university’s clarification, the court found that no cause of action survived and disposed of the petition.
It left the petitioner free to exercise his options in the forthcoming third phase of counselling.
Accordingly, candidates allotted seats in the first and second phases can list their present colleges as options and also opt for other colleges in the third phase.
The web portal will have to keep these options enabled.
The writ petition concerned the conduct of web counselling by NTR University of Health Sciences for MBBS admissions under the Competent Authority Quota for 2026-27.
The petitioner, a BC-B category candidate with a NEET rank of 31,325, had been allotted a seat at Guntur Medical College under the reservation category despite being eligible for a seat at the same college under the meritorious reserved candidate category.
The candidate had earlier stated that he opted for a limited number of colleges during the first phase.
When he attempted to exercise more choices in the second phase, he alleged that the options for the remaining colleges disappeared from the system after he entered choices for two colleges.
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