The Madras High Court has constituted a special medical board comprising four eminent doctors, including Dr Rajasekaran, Head of Department of Ortho in Madras Medical College, to examine the degree of the disability of five disabled students, whose candidature was rejected on the advice of the Medical Board of the Selection Committee.
The panel should assess the petitioners and submit a report through the Director of Medical Education (DME) on July 23, Justice KK Sasidharan said.
The judge was passing further interim orders on a batch of five writ petitions from the aspirants challenging the rejection of their candidature by the committee. The judge had already directed the committee to keep vacant five seats in the first year MBBS for 2013-14.
According to petitioners, before applying for MBBS admission, they had obtained the disability certificate from the respective District Medical Boards. However, during counselling, they were subjected to the test again by the medical team of the Selection Committee. Based on the finding of the doctors team, they were denied admission. Hence, the present writ petitions.
The judge observed that the petitioners would be entitled to get admission in case they fulfilled the criteria prescribed by the Medical Council of India (MCI).
The seats reserved for physically disabled in the normal case could not be diverted to the general pool. The court has got a solemn duty to protect the interest of the physically disabled persons. The petitioners with the hope that they would be selected on the basis of the certificates issued by the district boards, approached the selection committee.
“The court has to strike a balance in a case of this nature. The grievance expressed by the petitioners, considered in the light of the disability certificate issued by the District Medical Board, made me to direct the DME to submit a list of specialists to examine the petitioners,’’ judge said.