A visually-impaired student has been permitted to pursue a physiotherapy course by the Bombay High Court, saying that "our collective endeavour" as a society and of the state government has been to find ways to help those most in need of assistance.
PTI reports that the Maharashtra State Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy Council was heavily criticised by a division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale, for its stand that no visual impairment up to any extent can be permitted for students who wish to pursue physiotherapy courses. The council deals with the physiotherapy curriculum and education in the state.
Zill Jain's petition
In its order passed on June 20, the Bombay High Court, allowed a petition filed by student Zill Jain, seeking to be admitted to a physiotherapy course. Jain was suffering from visual impairment disability to the extent of 40 per cent.
Jain’s plea was opposed by the council, which said that blindness to any extent cannot be permitted in the practice of physiotherapy as physiotherapists have critical roles to play in operation theatres, surgical units and ICUs.
“We must express our very great dismay and displeasure at this approach of a regulatory council. The constitutional mandate is not to find further methods of exclusion. It is not to find new methods to benefit majorities,” the court said.
“Our collective endeavour as a society and particularly that of the state government has to be a constant effort to find ways to assist those most in need of assistance, and never to say that nothing can be done,” the HC said.
The council's stand is not only unacceptable to any judicial, constitutional or moral conscience but is also a betrayal of a Constitutional mandate and of statutory duty, observed the bench.
To accept this position of the council would be “contrary to the statute and a travesty of every concept of justice”, the HC said.
The council had no choice but to adapt their education curricula and policies to bring them in line with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act said the court, and deemed it the council's primary responsibility.
Zill Jain's backstory
Jain, who completed her HSC, that is, Class XII in March 2022, desired to study and practice physiotherapy.
However, the Regulations on Graduate Medical Education deem any amount of visual impairment unacceptable for being allowed to study or practice physiotherapy.
Later, an amendment was made to the provisions to state that those with a visual disability of 40 per cent or more are ineligible for such courses.
By an interim order passed by the HC in October 2022, Jain was permitted to appear for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test - Undergraduate (NEET - UG) 2022 and was granted admission to the physiotherapy course at Nair Hospital in Mumbai.
She is currently in her first year of the course.
The bench directed that Jain's admission and study should not be interrupted or cancelled only on the ground of low vision impairment.
