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The Supreme Court on April 2 directed a new evaluation of the student by a medical board constituted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed the Divyang candidate who passed the MBBS entrance examination in 2024 to allot a seat. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said in their order on the petition of Kabir Pahadia that there is no case of proper housing donation contained in the Rights Act, 2016 of Divyang persons, but has a fundamental right, whose five fingers have increased half and they were forbidden to admit MBBS due to their disability. The Supreme Court on April 2 directed his new evaluation by a Medical Board constituted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
The appellant has achieved high rank in NEET-OG 2024
The board concluded that Pahadia demonstrated functional adaptation using its existing fingers during various tasks. Pahadia challenged the order of the Delhi High Court in which his petition was dismissed. The apex court said that refusal to give admission to the appellant also weakens the same opportunity and the principles of non-discrimination contained in our constitutional structure. Focusing on the report of the medical board, the apex court said that we feel that the mindset should be changed. A minor deviation cannot be denied admission to the appellant in any way. He has achieved high rank in NEET-OG 2024.
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The Supreme Court said that the fundamental rights and respect of disabled persons (PWD) and benchmark disabled persons (PWBD) should be protected to ensure that their capabilities are evaluated from personal, evidence -based and conservative perceptions, which have no scientific basis. Under the 2016 Act, benchmark disabled individuals have been defined as individuals whose disability is 40 percent or more, as certified by a recognized medical authority.
Facilities should be provided instead of boycotting disabled persons
The bench said in its May 2 decision that the constitutional mandate of fundamental equality demands that disabled persons and benchmark disabled persons should be provided appropriate facilities instead of boycotting their abilities. The apex court said that there has been a lot of progress in the 2024-2025 academic session and thus giving admission to the appellant in the said session will not be expedient. The bench said that we instruct that the appellant will be allotted a seat in MBBS UG Course 2025 under the Scheduled Caste PWBD quota at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi in the upcoming academic session.
No eligible candidate is deprived of admission in MBBS syllabus
The apex court also directed the National Medical Commission to complete the process of amending the guidelines for admission to MBBS syllabus within two months so that no qualified candidates in the PWBD category are deprived of admission in MBBS syllabus despite their rights. On behalf of the petitioner, Justice VK Jain, who is suffering from both benchmark disability (zero vision), attended, while Justice Gaurav Aggarwal and Additional Solicitor General Archana Pathak Dave were present on behalf of the National Medical Commission. The court said that it should be ensured that systemic discrimination against individuals with direct or indirect standard disability ends and their right to equal opportunity and respect in the admission process should be maintained. Pahadia scored 542 out of 720 in NEET. His disability is “described as the congenital absence of several fingers in both hands and the participation of the left leg (the second and third toe), which is estimated at 42 percent.
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