Scar of a Removed Tattoo Is No Ground for Medical Unfitness: Rajasthan High Court

The respondent's candidature was rejected as medically unfit solely for a scar on the inner aspect of her right forearm (paras 2, 6). On 28.11.2023 a Single Judge allowed her writ petition and declared the rejection illegal (para 2). The Union of India, the CRPF's Director General, the Staff Selection Commission and a Review Medical Board appealed. Relying on sub-clause (3) of Clause 11 of the 2015 uniform guidelines for recruitment medical examinations, the Deputy Solicitor General submitted that the guidelines required freedom from any tattoo or scar of a removed tattoo on the inner right forearm, and that judicial review of a medical board's opinion is very limited (para 3). The respondent supported the Single Judge's order (para 4).

The Bench found no ground to interfere (para 5). The tattoo clause quoted in para 7 makes the existence of a tattoo mark a possible ground of disqualification, for reasons of good order and discipline, but contains no absolute prohibition (para 8). Tattoos depicting a religious symbol, figure or name are permitted, as in the Indian Army (para 9). Location and size may make a candidate unfit: tattoos on the inner aspect of the left forearm, the non-saluting limb, or on the dorsum of the hands are permissible if smaller than one quarter of that part of the body, so a tattoo is a ground of unfitness only in certain conditions (para 10). Where the tattoo has already been removed leaving a scar, the case is outside the disqualification clause; a scar on the inner right forearm is not by itself a ground of unfitness, and the scar of a removed tattoo cannot be treated differently from a scar caused by an injury (para 11). Disqualifying a candidate for such a scar would be hostile discrimination without a rational basis, violating Articles 14 and 16 (para 11). The rejection was arbitrary and rightly struck down (para 12).