Quantified Disability Alone Cannot Bar MBBS Admission; Disability Boards Must Assess Ability to Pursue the Course

The appellant, who has a speech and language disability certified at 44-45%, qualified in NEET (UG) 2024 and sought admission to MBBS under the PwD and OBC categories (paras 2-5). The Disability Certification Centre at Sir JJ Group of Hospitals held him ineligible under NMC norms (para 6), because Appendix H-1, inserted in 2019 into the Graduate Medical Education Regulations, bars persons with 40% or more of this disability from the medical course (para 7). The Bombay High Court passed no interim order (para 9). This Court had a Medical Board examine him; it opined that his disability would not come in the way of pursuing MBBS (paras 11-12), and he was admitted by order of 18.09.2024 (para 14).

Article 41 makes securing the right to education, including for persons with disabilities, a constitutional goal (para 16). Section 32 of the RPwD Act reserves at least 5% of seats in government and aided higher education institutions for persons with benchmark disabilities (paras 18-19). Read literally, Appendix H-1 left no candidate with this disability eligible for the reserved quota, an absurd result (para 20). A purposive reading means that quantified disability of 40% or more does not forfeit a candidate's claim, as a blanket bar treats unequals equally (para 21). Following Ambica Mills, lumping candidates who can pursue the course with those who cannot is over-inclusion that Article 14 forbids (para 22). The Court looked beneath facial equality and relied on Ravinder Kumar Dhariwal against a one-size-fits-all approach (paras 25, 28). Reasonable accommodation under Section 2(y) must be read broadly, as in Vikash Kumar (paras 40-41). Disability Assessment Boards cannot simply act on the certificate; they must decide whether the disability will hinder the course (para 46). The National Medical Commission must act on the Ministry's communication of 25.01.2024 before the 2025-26 brochure (para 35).