The Madras High Court has made it compulsory for students attending medical admissions counselling to carry their Aadhaar card. The interim orders were issued by Justice Kirubakaran on Friday.

Vinnaya, a student from Pudukkottai district along with six others had filed a case with the Madras High Court in 2017 alleging that a high number of medical seats were allotted to those from outside the state.

Demanding that medical seats in Tamil Nadu go to those from the state, the students asked for the earlier allocation of seats to be rejected.

When the case came up before Justice Kirubakaran in April this year, he had asked the Central government if students from outside the state, who have been allotted seats in Tamil Nadu, had first applied in their own state.

The Central government responded by stating that while it would be difficult to get figures for this across India, it would submit figures from the southern states.

According to a report in The Hindu, the students alleged that 1,269 students held 'dual nativity' certificates and had applied as residents of both Tamil Nadu as well as Karnataka/ Andhra Pradesh or Puducherry.

The order read, “To confirm that the genuine State candidates are benefited under the State quota, it is appropriate to make the production of Aadhar card and a photocopy of the same compulsory at the time of counselling. By the said method, the students from other States could be prevented from getting the benefit under the State quota.”

The court further asked for the notice to be published in newspapers in view of the medical admissions counselling due in July.

Also read: At the mercy of ‘fingerprint gods’: How rural Karnataka struggles for food due to Aadhaar