Supreme Court Lauds Achievements Of Persons With Disabilities In Judgment Allowing Medical Education For Candidate With Disability

In its landmark judgment holding that the mere existence of a physical disability should not be a ground to disbar a candidate from medical education, the Supreme Court named several individuals who achieved great accomplishments despite their disabilities.

The bench comprising Justices BR Gavai, Aravind Kumar and KV Viswanathan allowed the plea of a student with 40-45% speech and language disability to pursue the MBBS course.

The judgment authored by Justice Viswanathan referred to some "illustrious sons and daughters of India" who have braved adversities and achieved great achievements overcoming disabilities.

"Before we part, we will do well to recollect that acclaimed Bharatanatyam dancer Sudha Chandran, Arunima Sinha who conquered Mount Everest, prominent sports personality, H. Boniface Prabhu, entrepreneur Srikanth Bolla and Dr. Satendra Singh, the founder of 'Infinite Ability', are some of the shining daughters and sons from a long and illustrious list of individuals in India who scaled extraordinary heights braving all adversities," Justice Viswanathan wrote.

"The world would have been so much the poorer if Homer, Milton, Mozart, Beethoven, Byron and many more would not have been allowed to realize their full potential. Distinguished Indian Medical Practitioner Dr. Farokh Erach Udwadia in his classic work “The Forgotten Art of Healing and Others Essays' under the Chapter 'Art and Medicine' rightly extolls their extraordinary talent, and of the many more similarly circumstanced," the judgment added.

The Court held that quantified disability per se will not dis-entitle a candidate with benchmark disability from being considered for admission to educational institutions. The candidate will be eligible, if the Disability Assessment Board opines that notwithstanding the quantified disability the candidate can pursue the course in question.

The Disability Assessment Boards assessing the candidates should positively record whether the disability of the candidate will or will not come in the way of the candidate pursuing the course in question. The Disability Assessment Boards should state reasons in the event of the Disability Assessment Boards concluding that the candidate is not eligible for pursuing the course.

Case Details: Omkar Ramchandra Gond v. Union of India & Ors SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (CIVIL) Diary No(s). 39448/2024