HARSHIL MAHESHBHAI UPADHYAY Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Considering the exigency in the matter, the petition was finally heard at the admission stage with the consent of the learned Advocates for the parties.

(2.) The petitioner, aspiring to get admission in the first year course of MBBS under the category reserved for the physically handicapped persons, had initially filed the petition seeking direction against the respondent No.2 to grant him the admission on the basis of the certificate of disability dated 3.9.2015 certifying his disability to the extent of 55% and to grant consequential benefits to him. The petitioner also challenged the impugned merit list showing the status of persons with disabilities at Annexure-A, to the extent it held the petitioner not eligible for the Medical course. The respondent No.2 having filed the reply and produced on record the report dated 3.7.2019 of the Medical Appellate Board, the petitioner has subsequently amended the petition by incorporating the prayer seeking direction to quash and set aside the said report mainly on the ground that it was not in consonance with the Graduate Medical Education Regulations 1997 as amended in 2019 (Annexure-O).

(3.) The short facts giving rise to the present petition are that as per the certificate of disability dated 3.9.2015 issued under the provisions contained in Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 (hereinafter referred to as "the Disabilities Act) (Annexure-C), the petitioner suffers from the locomotor disability of upper limb right-hand, and has the permanent disability to the extent of 55%. The petitioner had appeared in the Higher Secondary Certificate Examinations held in the year 2018 by the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board, and being desirous of pursuing medical education, had also appeared in the National Entrance cum Eligibility Test (NEET) 2018. He had secured a score of 299 out of 720 in the NEET held in May 2018. The petitioner had also applied for getting admission in the medical course under the category of physically handicapped candidates, however, he was disqualified on the ground that he had the disability more than the permitted limit (Annexure-R-1).