Medical Board Can't Declare Disabled Candidate Ineligible For MBBS Without Explaining Specific Functional Limitations: Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court has granted relief to an MBBS student who had been declared ineligible to pursue the course due to a congenital deformity of his left upper limb, holding that the Medical Board could not reach such a conclusion without identifying the specific functional limitations that prevented him from pursuing the course.

The bench of Justice Nupur Bhati found that the Board's assessment failed to identify any specific functional competency which the petitioner was unable to perform or explain how his impairment prevented him from pursuing the MBBS course.

“The impugned reports…given by the Medical Board are deficient, inasmuch as it does not contain a reasoned finding as to the specific functional competency which the petitioner is unable to perform and further does not explain as to how the disability prevents him from pursuing the MBBS Course. The reports also lack assessment regarding assistive devices or reasonable accommodation and the assessment of his dominant right hand.”

The Court further observed that even though the board consisted of experts, there was no one specializing in rights of disabled person. It was held that expertise in orthopedic could not be presumed to establish expertise in its rights, especially when the report did not demonstrate that the assessment was undertaken in accordance with functional and disability rights.

For context, the petitioner had appeared in NEET UG 2023, pursuant to which he had obtained a disability certificate. This was followed by another medical assessment in which a note was appended by the medical board to the effect that owing to deformity in upper limb, he was not eligible to pursue medical course. Hence, the petition was filed challenging this report.

It was argued by the petitioner that the conclusion of the board was arbitrary since it did not disclose any specific functional deficiency or reasons as to how petitioner's disability prevented him from pursuing MBBS.

It was further submitted that he was presently in his 3^rd year of MBBS Course, and had successfully passed first 2 years, that included both theoretical and practical examinations.

After hearing the contentions, the Court referred to the Supreme Court case of Omkar Ramchandra Gond v Union of India, to hold that, “held that disability Board is required to positively determine whether the disability of a candidate would come in the way of pursuing the course and in the event of a negative conclusion, most record cogent reasons indicating as to how and to what extent, the disability prevents the candidate from pursuing the course”.

In this background, the Court observed that in the present case, the board did not assign any reasons and without indicating whether the petitioner's disability would hinder his pursuit of the course, declared him ineligible. Hence, the report did not disclose nexus between functional limitations and conclusion of ineligibility.

The Court further stated that the Supreme Court had also ruled that assessment shall also consider whether the candidate could pursue the course with the aid of modern scientific tool. However, no such assessment was made by the board.

It was also highlighted that the board failed to take into account the fact that the petitioner's dominant hand was the right one which was fully functional and competent. The Court stated that this omission was material since petitioner's inability related to his left hand.

Accordingly, the petition was allowed and the petitioner was considered to be eligible for pursuing the MBBS Couse.

Title: Mukul Vairagi v State of Rajasthan & Ors.

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Raj) 330

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