Admit candidate with disability in MBBS course: SC directs AIIMS

Observing that systemic discrimination against persons with benchmark disabilities should be eliminated, the Supreme Court has directed the allocation of a seat to a candidate with disability who cleared the MBBS entrance exam in 2024.

- TDG NETWORK

Reasonable accommodation, enshrined in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, is not a matter of charity but a fundamental right, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said in its order on a plea by Kabir Paharia who has five half-grown fingers and was denied MBBS admission due to his locomotor disability.

The apex court had on April 2 directed his fresh assessment by a medical board constituted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. The board concluded that Paharia demonstrated functional adaptation using his existing fingers during different tasks.