NEW DELHI: After paving the way for the colour blind to pursue medical studies, the Supreme Court has now allowed medical aspirants suffering from low vision to get admission, stating the present law did not bar them from becoming a doctor.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Indira Banerjee came to the rescue of an Ahmedabad-based student who was denied admission in a medical college despite qualifying NEET 2018 with a rank of 419 in the physically handicapped category. The court brushed aside the contention of the Medical Council of India ( MCI ) that persons with visual impairment of 40 per cent or more could not be admitted to undergraduate medical courses and the beneficial provision of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act , which provides reservation for the differently-abled, could not be invoked in MBBS/BDS courses.

The petitioner, Purswani Ashutosh, moved the court through his advocate Govind Jee after failing to get a disability certificate, needed for counselling for admission in a medical college. During the pendency of the case in the apex court, MCI had constituted a committee which opined that persons with visual impairment of 40 per cent or more could not be admitted to undergraduate medical courses.

The bench, however, refused to accept the recommendation of the committee and said the existing rule allowed students with low vision to get admission and it must be followed by MCI and medical colleges.

"The Medical Education Regulations framed under Section 33 of the Medical Council Act, 1956 have statutory force and are binding on the MCI. The Committee having opined that the petitioner suffers from a benchmark disability, its view with regard to the suitability of the petitioner for the MBBS course cannot override the Medical Education Regulations," the bench said while noting that the regulations had not yet been amended by the MCI in the light of the recommendations made by its committee.

On reservation to disabled persons in medical colleges, the bench said, "The contention of MCI that Section 32 is not attracted since it only provides for reservation to higher educational institutions and not to technical institutions, appears to be fallacious since higher educational institution is a generic term which would include institutions imparting all kinds of higher education, including technical education, whereas technical institution is a specific term for those institutions which only impart technical education."

The petitioner had contended that there was already a provision for reservation of five percent seats under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act and the government agencies and medical colleges must implement the law by allowing disabled persons to get admission in medical colleges. "The 2016 Act, in particular Section 32 thereof, read with the Medical Education Regulations clearly provides for reservation of seats in the MBBS course for persons like the petitioner with specified benchmark disability of low vision," the bench said.

The apex court had in 2017 allowed colour blind students to pursue medical studies, which was barred by MCI. The court had appointed a committee of doctors to examine the issue and it had recommended that such students could be allowed to get admission in medical colleges.

