SC directs NMC to set panel to examine modes of disability assesment for mentally ill MBBS aspirants

On quota for the mentally ill in MBBS admissions, the top court has asked the National Medical Commission to establish a panel to examine modes of disability assessment.

Supreme Court has asked the National Medical Council to establish a panel of domain experts to examine a plea for evolving modes of disability assessment of students having mental illnesses, special learning disorder (SLD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for granting quota in admission to MBBS course.

A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala took note of the submissions of lawyer Gaurav Kumar Bansal, appearing for the MBBS aspirant, that the person suffering from SLD and ASD cannot be treated so shabbily and denied quota benefits under the statute, as reported by Law Trend.

The direction came on a plea by Vishal Gupta who was denied reservation in admission to MBBS course under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act on the ground that his mental disability was 55 per cent rendering him ineligible for securing admission in a medical college.

Under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, if the certifying authority certifies that the disability of a person is not less than 40 per cent then he or she is said to have the “benchmark disability”, and in that condition, the candidate cannot get the benefit of reservation in admission.

“We are of the considered view that the aspects which have been raised in these proceedings required to be considered by an expert body having domain knowledge. We, therefore, direct the National Medical Commission to treat the grievance of the petitioner in these proceedings as a representation and to consider the grievance at an appropriate level while dealing with the regulations on graduate medical education,” the apex court ordered on May 18, 2023.

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