Supreme Court rejects disabled student's plea for admission in dermatology course

The Supreme Court on Thursday, December 1 refused to entertain a plea of a physically-disabled candidate who was denied admission to a postgraduate course in dermatology in a medical college in West Bengal on the ground that there was no reservation for such candidates under state quota.

A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and PS Narasimha said it would not interfere at the "last minute" when the admission process is almost over and it may affect some other student who is already admitted, as stated in a report by PTI. The bench asked the applicant to come next time when it would form a committee to examine the issue.

Student's plea

The student, in the plea, said that West Bengal does not provide quota while giving admission to physically-disabled persons in PG seats for dermatology courses even though there were 27 reserved seats for such students in PG courses, reported PTI. The plea said the denial of quota in dermatology course was "arbitrary and discriminatory".

The counsel for the state government said quotas for physically-disabled students were available if a student comes through the all-India merit list. The state quota in PG admissions does not have the provision of reservation for physically-disabled students, the counsel said.