Hyderabad: Dealing with petitions by Pitani Satyanarayana and Dokka Manikya Varaprasada, former ministers of undivided AP, on the FAST scheme, a division bench cited that the conditions of the scheme were seemingly against Article 15 (Equality Before Law) and Article 19 (Right to Freedom).

The Chief Justice said, “If every state adopts a similar method and declares that it will finance only its natives, then it will adversely affect our federal structure.” The Bench cautioned the government that such issues could encourage divisive tendencies. The government must be careful while implementing such schemes as students from different parts of the country were studying in each and every state, it said.

The Bench observed that the government could have its own policies, but it should be in a position to justify that its policies fell within the Constitution and also that the scheme was in the interests of poor students. While granting three weeks to the AG, the Bench said if the government failed to file counter by that time, the matter would be adjudicated on the basis of available material.