HC rejects disabled students' pleas seeking medical admission

The Gujarat High Court today rejected pleas of three differently-abled students who had challenged denial of admission to undergraduate medical courses.

A division bench of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice V M Pancholi rejected the petitions, and thus upheld an amendment to Rule 6 in the state government's Fixation of Fees Rules.

The rule deals with constitution of a medical board to reassess if a disabled person can take admission to a medical course.

Three students with disabilities had challenged denial of admission to medical colleges by the Admission Committee for Professional Undergraduate Medical Educational Courses.

The admission was denied as the medical board held that they were not fit to pursue the course, having more than 40 per cent disability. A person with less than 40 per cent disability is considered fit for admission.

The appellate authority also upheld the board's decision.

The government had assessed the degree of the disability of petitioners Ganesh Baraiya, Muskan Shaikh and Hina Mevasiya at 72 per cent, 75 per cent and 50 per cent, respectively.

Their lawyer Rahul Sharma argued that the constitution of a medical board to assess disability violates the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, and norms set by the Medical Council of India (MCI).

But the MCI and the admission committee argued that formation of medical board under the state government's amended rule does not violate the Act.