Government has final say on seat increases and course mergers, rules Telangana High Court

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has ruled that the authority to approve or deny proposals from private colleges regarding seat increases and course mergers lies solely with the state government. The court upheld the government’s right to assess institutional needs and reject applications where warranted.

A bench headed by Justice K. Lakshman delivered the judgment while dismissing a batch of petitions filed by institutions such as MGR, CMR, KMR, Mallareddy, Marri Educational Society, and Maruthi Colleges, among others. These colleges had challenged the government’s decision to reject their applications despite receiving prior approval from AICTE and JNTU Hyderabad.

This marks the third consecutive setback for private colleges on the same issue since last year.

The court stated that the government’s rejections were not arbitrary. Authorities had reviewed vacancy levels and admission data, especially for colleges in Kandlakoya and Medchal–Malkajgiri—before denying the requests. The decision also factored in internal sliding trends from the TG-EAPCET 2024 admissions.

Colleges, the court said, failed to present valid justification for why additional seats or course mergers were necessary. Citing an earlier ruling from 13 August 2024, the court noted that the government had considered all relevant aspects before denying approvals and found no political motivation behind the decisions.

The judgment referenced the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Sangam Lakshmibai Vidyapeeth case, which affirmed the government’s power to regulate the unchecked proliferation of private institutions. Justice Lakshman concluded that there were no grounds for judicial interference and dismissed all ten petitions in a detailed 42-page verdict.