VIDHI HIMMAT KATARIYA AND OTHERS versus THE STATE OF GUJARAT AND OTHERS

Citation: [2019] 12 S.C.R. 821 · Decided: 04-10-2019 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: ARUN MISHRA · Disposal: Dismissed
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Judgment (excerpt)

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VIDHI HIMMAT KATARIYA AND OTHERS
v.
THE STATE OF GUJARAT AND OTHERS
(Writ Petition (C) No. 885 of 2019)
OCTOBER 04, 2019
[ARUN MISHRA, M. R. SHAH AND B. R. GAVAI, JJ.]
Education/Educational Institutions:
Admission  – Reservation under Persons with Disability
(PwD) category – For MBBS course academic year 2019-20 –
Petitioners-students denied admission as they were not fulfilling the
requisite criteria as per appendix ‘H’ to Notification dated 4.2.2019
– Writ petition before Supreme Court seeking direction to treat them
eligible for reservation under PwD category and grant admission
in MBBS course – Pleaded that they were not governed by
Notification dated 4.2.2019 as the process of selection had
commenced prior to the date of Notification i.e. on 1.11.2018 –
Held: The relevant date for considering the eligibility criteria would
be the date on which admission is sought – The Notification was
issued and published prior to date of admission – Therefore, the
petitioners-students would be governed by the Notification –
Moreover, when the experts in the field have opined against them,
court sitting as an appellate authority against such opinion is not
justified.
Dismissing the writ petitions, the Court
HELD : The essential eligibility criteria as per Appendix
‘H’ is required to be considered at the time when the candidates
were seeking admission in the medical course under PwD
category. Even the candidates seeking admission in PwD quota
are required to appear before the concerned Medical Board at
the time of actually seeking admission and after NEET result is
declared.  Therefore, the relevant date for considering the
essential eligibility criteria as per Appendix ‘H’ shall be the date
on which the candidates – petitioners sought admission in the
MBBs course under PwD quota. Much prior thereto, notification
dated 4.2.2019 has been issued and published and therefore the
821
   [2019] 12 S.C.R. 821
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2019] 12 S.C.R.
respective petitioners shall be governed by notification dated
04.02.2019.  All the expert bodies including the Medical Board,
Medical Appellate Board and even the Medical Board of AIIMS,
New Delhi consisting of the experts have opined against the
petitioners and their cases are considered in light of the relevant
essential eligibility criteria as mentioned in Appendix ‘H’ – ‘Both
hands intact, with intact sensation, sufficient strength and range
of motion’.  Therefore, when the experts in the field have opined
against the petitioners, the Court would not be justified in sitting
over as an appellate authority against the opinion formed by the
experts, more particularly when there are no allegations of mala
fides. [Paras 7 and 8] [828-G-H; 829-A-D]
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION : Writ Petition (Civil) No.
885 of 2018.
[Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India.]
With
W.P. (C) No. 900/2019 and 1026/2019.
Govind Jee, Krishna Kumar Singh and Syed Musaib, Advs. for
the Petitioners.
A.K. Sinha, Sr. Adv., Prashant Singh, Vikas Bansal, Deepak Goel,
R. R. Rajesh, Raj Bahadur Yadav, Gaurav Sharma, Dhawal Mohan,
Prateek Bhatia, Prassanna Mohan, Aniruddha P. Mayee, A. Rajarajan
and Sanjeev Kr. Choudhary, Advs. for the Respondents.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
M. R. SHAH, J.
1. In all the writ petitions, the respective petitioners – students
have prayed for an appropriate writ, order or direction directing the
respondents – State Government to treat the petitioners eligible for
reservation under Persons with Disability (PwD category) and grant
them admission in MBBS Course for the academic year 2019-20.  It
is the case on behalf of the respective petitioners that all of them are
eligible to pursue MBBS Course and they shall be granted admission
under the PwD category as they are suffering from ‘locomotor
disability’. All of them are seeking admission to MBBS Course in the
reserved category under PwD quota.
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2. That Section 32 of the Right of Persons with Disabilities Act,
2016 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘2016 Act’), which came into force
with effect from 19.04.2017 provides for reservation of not less than
5% in government educational institutions. Accordingly, the Medical
Council of India notified the Regulations for providing 5% seats to
candidates with benchmark disability in accordance with the provisions
of the 2016 Act.  It is the case on behalf of the petitioners that process
of admission for MBBS Undergraduate course f
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