ANMOL Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present appeal calls in question the correctness of the order dtd. 23/9/2024 passed by a Division Bench of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh in CWP No. 24293 of 2024 (O&M). By a short order, the Division Bench rejected the claim of the appellant, a 'person with disabilities' and upheld the denial of his admission to the MBBS Course. This Court, by its order dtd. 12/12/2024, while granting leave, after considering the report of the Medical Board constituted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), including the separate opinion of Dr. Satendra Singh, a member of the Board, and considering the legal position directed that the appellant should be admitted in the Government Medical College, Sirohi, Rajasthan against a seat reserved for Persons with Disabilities (PwD) (OBC). By the order of 12/12/2024, the Court had observed that reasons would be separately recorded. The reasons are being recorded by virtue of the present judgment.

(2.) The facts lie in a narrow compass. The appellant had a distinguished academic record in school and passed his 10th grade and 12th grade examination with flying colours. It is clear from the medical opinion of the AIIMS, including the opinion of Dr. Satendra Singh, that the appellant has Locomotor disability 50% with Club foot right lower limb with Phocomalia, Left middle ring finger through middle phalanx with right middle index finger through middle phalanx. Further, he has speech and language disability of 20%. The final disability computed was 58%.

(3.) The appellant aspired to be a medical professional. The appellant appeared for the NEET-UG 2024 Examination conducted by the National Testing Agency on 5/5/2024. The results were declared and the appellant obtained rank 2462 in the Persons with Disability (PwD) category. The cut-off obtained by him was far above the cutoff for the OBC-PwD Category. The appellant approached the Government Medical College, Chandigarh (Respondent No. 6) - the designated Disability Certification Centre to get his disability assessed.