NEET PG Candidate seeks quashing of disability certificate declaring him eligible and ineligible, Delhi HC issues notice

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued notice on a petition moved by a medical aspirant seeking direction for quashing the disability certificate issued to him. The petitioner stated that the certificate declares him eligible to pursue medical education and at another place, it declares him not eligible. He has sought a direction for his re-examination at AIIMS.

Justice Yashwant Varma Thursday issued notice to respondents including Lady Hardinge Medical College on the petition moved by Mohd Danish Khan. The matter has been listed on September 19 for further hearing.

Also Read:MBBS doctor declared ineligible to pursue PG medical course: HC Directs AIIMS To Constitute panel to Assess medico's Disability

A petitioner is a Person with Benchmark Disability who has challenged the Disability Certificate issued on September 1, 2022, by Lady Hardinge Medical College as the same has failed to conclude whether the petitioner is Eligible or not Eligible to pursue medical education.

Advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal submitted that as per the certificate petitioner is Eligible as well as Not Eligible to pursue Medical Education thus being contradictory is liable to be quashed.

He also submitted that as per the National Medical Commission (NMC) notification of March 13, 2019, Persons with a hearing disability of more than 40 per cent may be made eligible to pursue Post Graduate Medical Education and may be given the benefit of Persons with Disabilities (PwD) Quota, subject to the condition that the hearing disability is brought to a level of less than the benchmark of 40 per cent with the aid of assistive devices. In addition to this, the individual should have a speech discrimination score of more than 60 per cent

It is stated by the petitioner that as per the disability certificate the Unaided Hearing Disability of the petitioner is 61 per cent and with the aid of an Assistive Device, the Aided Hearing Disability is 20 per cent which is less than 40 per cent as per the benchmark set by NMC in its Notification of March 13, 2019. Hence the petitioner is eligible to pursue Medical Education.

It is also stated in the petition that as far as aided speech disability score or word recognition Score of the petitioner is concerned, according to the Certificate petitioner's score is 53 per cent.

However, as per the test report of September 7, 2022, issued by the Department of ENT, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital petitioner's Aided Speech Disability Score or Word Recognition Score is 70 per cent which is more than 60 per cent as required to make him eligible for pursuing Medical Education as per NMC Notification of March 13, 2019.

The petition has highlighted that as per NMC Notification, the Medical Board of NEET Disability Certification Centre has to calculate the Speech Discrimination Score, whereas in the present case Respondent Lady Harding Medical College has determined the 'Speech Disability Score'.

The petitioner has urged the Court to direct All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) or any other Medical College / Hospital to reexamine the functional competency of the petitioner in accordance with the guideline of January 4, 2018, issued by the Medical Counselling Committee and Notification of March 13, 2019, issued by NMC.

The petition has submitted that the then MCI in its 'Comprehensive Report Regarding Guidelines for Providing The Range For 21 Benchmark Disabilities Included In 'The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act -2016' submitted to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The petition mentioned that one of the recommendations from the then MCI Committee was that "Guidelines/criteria need to be periodically evaluated with regard to eligibility quota and to provide the best possible benefits to the medical students with a disability as per National / International norms."

It is contended that National Medical Commission has neither constituted a committee having Doctors with Disabilities nor has upgraded its guideline periodically as far as Eligibility Criteria of Persons with Disability is concerned in the light of best practices followed globally.

On May 21, 2022, the Petitioner appeared for NEET PG Exam. NEET PG declared results of PG according to which the petitioner secured 23204 ranks.

On August 08, 2022, Medical Counselling Committee, informed all the PwD Candidates of NEET PG, 2022 that to avail the benefit of PwD reservation, the Candidate should get the disability certificate issued from any one of the designated NEET Disability Certification Centres.

Also Read:TN removes Clause asking PWD NEET PG candidates to send photos of disability