NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has ruled that a faint scar resulting from a tattoo removal procedure cannot disqualify a candidate from joining the Delhi Police. The ruling came as the Court upheld a Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) decision favoring Deepak Yadav, who had faced rejection due to a tattoo on his forearm.
A bench comprising Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Girish Kathpalia examined the case after Yadav was initially deemed unfit by the Staff Selection Commission due to a faded tattoo detected during a medical examination. At the time of his review, Yadav was actively undergoing tattoo removal, which left only a faint scar.
The HC noted that the tattoo was no longer visible and that the residual scar was barely noticeable. The Bench concluded that such a scar, which can be a natural outcome of tattoo removal, should not be a barrier to Yadav’s employment.
“We have physically seen the right forearm of the respondent and from the naked eye, the tattoo is not even visible. The same has been shown to the counsel for the petitioners and the officials who are present in court to assist the learned counsel. According to us, there is no clear visible tattoo on the forearm of the respondent. However, there is a very dim scar. Sometimes such types of
scars are natural and therefore, the candidates cannot be rejected on that ground,” the court order read.
The bench highlighted that candidates with objectionable tattoos are typically given a grace period to have them removed. The Court recognized that Yadav was already undergoing the removal process when his medical examination was conducted, and he did not have the chance to present his case to the Review Medical Board post-procedure.
“The respondent had no opportunity to appear before the Review Medical Board after the tattoo removal process was completed,” the court noted. It further directed that Yadav be allowed to join the next available training batch, as there were still vacancies open.