The admission of a 20-year-old student from the Other Backward Class (OBC) with a baseline disability (locomotor and speech disabilities) to a medical college was the subject of a recent Supreme Court of India intervention. Despite passing the NEET-UG exam twice, in the 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 academic years, the petitioner was repeatedly denied admission to medical school by the Disability Assessment Board (DAB). After the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Rajasthan High Court dismissed his objections to these rulings, he turned to the Supreme Court.
With a score of 205 out of 720, the petitioner exceeded the OBC-PwD category cut-off marks and qualified for the 2024 NEET-UG exam. Due to the 50% locomotor disability listed on his disability certificate, he qualified for reservations under the “physical disability quota.” Despite this, the certificate said without giving any justification why he was not eligible for medical school.
On November 25, 2024, the Supreme Court first issued a notice in response to the petitioner’s request, ordering the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to establish an expert committee to determine if the petitioner’s impairment would prevent him from pursuing medical education. According to the National Medical Commission’s regulations, which mandate that medical students have hands that are both entire and functional, the committee determined that the petitioner was ineligible. The petitioner could succeed in medical studies with the right clinical accommodations and supportive technologies, according to the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act of 2016, according to a dissenting opinion written by committee member Dr. Satendra Singh.
The Supreme Court instructed the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) to evaluate the petitioner’s admission under the OBC/PwD category on the basis of merit, citing Dr. Singh’s dissenting judgement. The petitioner’s admittance was permitted by an interim order issued on December 2, 2024, but the government’s noncompliance prompted the Court to call the Director General of Health Services, voicing dissatisfaction about the absence of Union counsel.
Following Additional Solicitor General Vikram Banerjee’s attendance in today’s proceedings, the Court took into consideration the petitioner’s admission to the Government Medical College in Sirohi, Rajasthan, where he might be accommodated in a reasonable manner, and instructed the authorities to guarantee compliance.
SOURCE :
LIVE LAW
