"Who knows, someday she may become an excellent doctor": This is what the Supreme Court said on Friday, February 10, when it came to the rescue of a girl. She was denied admission to an MBBS course owing to her speech impairment. The Supreme Court directed a medical board of PGIMER Chandigarh to examine her. The Haryana-born girl will be examined by a medical board that will be formed by the director of PGIMER Chandigarh, according to a directive from a bench made up of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala. The bench further ordered the medical board to examine her in a month and submit a report to the court, as reported by PTI.
Advocate Gaurav Sharma, speaking on behalf of the National Medical Commission, suggested that while it is not impeding a girl's ability to pursue an MBBS degree, it would be appropriate for a medical board to examine her in order to determine whether or not she will be able to succeed in the programme. He said that admission for this academic year has already been done but she can take admission for next academic year.
The bench then noted, "The petitioner has approached this court that she has been denied admission to the MBBS course on the ground that she has speech and language impairment of 55%. Without embarking on legal norms to find a resolution, we accordingly direct that the petitioner be examined by a medical board at PGIMER Chandigarh. The medical boards file its report within a month after examining her, stated a PTI report. Where does the quote end?
There is no challenge to the Medical Council of India Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997 as amended on February 4, 2019, according to attorney Gaurav Agrawal, who was representing the girl. On September 26 of last year, the Supreme Court gave notice and asked the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the Center for a response regarding the plea. Agrawal had earlier argued that despite passing the NEET exam, the student's right to an education was being denied because of a speech impairment. He had stated that she qualifies for the reserved quota under the new regulations due to her disability as reported by PTI.
The bench had then observed that had the petitioner come early, then the court could have exercised its power under Article 142 to protect the girl and her academic year could have been saved. In her plea, the girl said, "The petitioner, despite being a disabled person and suffering from disability, dreamt of pursuing MBBS and becoming a doctor. The petitioner was allotted a seat in the Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College, Haryana under the Person with disability category through counseling." However, the plea claimed that after the disability board determined that her disability was at 55%, she was declared ineligible. The Disability Act allows for a 40% disability to qualify for the Act's reservation benefits.
