Lucknow, Sep 23 The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday held that the percentage of disability recorded in a valid disability certificate issued by the competent authority cannot be reassessed or altered by a medical assessment board constituted by the National Medical Commission (NMC).
The high court’s Lucknow bench in its order stated that the role of the NMC medical assessment board is limited to determining whether a candidate is capable of pursuing and completing the MBBS course with reasonable accommodation and assistive devices, and does not extend to redetermining the percentage of disability certified by the competent authority.
The court held that a valid disability certificate issued by the competent authority under sections 56 and 57 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act remains binding on all concerned authorities unless it is set aside by a competent judicial or statutory forum.
A division bench of Justices Shekhar B Saraf and Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary, while deciding three petitions filed by Shubham Mishra, Saurabh Rana and Gulfam Ahmed together, quashed the findings of the Medical Assessment Board and the Appellate Medical PwBD(Person with Benchmark Disability) Assessment Board, which had declared the candidates ineligible for reservation under the PwBD category.
The court directed the authorities to include the three candidates as eligible PwBD candidates in the remaining NEET-UG 2026 counselling and consider them for seat allocation in accordance with their PwBD All India Rank and the applicable counselling rules.
Mishra had been issued a certificate showing 45 per cent permanent disability by the Chief Medical Officer, Sultanpur.
He had been issued the disability certificate and UDID card on account of a chronic neurological condition (Bell’s palsy). He secured PwBD All India Rank 948 in NEET-UG 2026.
However, the Medical Assessment Board, in its certificate dated August 11, reduced his disability from 45 per cent to 20 per cent and declared him ineligible for PwBD reservation.
The Appellate Medical Board also found him ineligible under the PwBD category on August 21.
The High Court held that both boards had exceeded their jurisdiction by reassessing the percentage of disability.
The bench noted that all three petitions raised a common legal issue.
According to the records, Mishra had 45 per cent disability, Rana 50 per cent and Ahmed 40 per cent.
In all three cases, the medical boards had found the candidates functionally capable of pursuing and completing the MBBS course.
The court held that a valid disability certificate issued by the competent authority under sections 56 and 57 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act remains binding on all concerned authorities unless it is set aside by a competent judicial or statutory forum and that the percentage of disability mentioned cannot be altered by the medical assessment board during the assessment process.
Referring to the NMC guidelines dated July 27, 2026, the court noted that candidates with 40 per cent or more disability are covered under the PwBD provisions.
The medical board is required to assess whether a candidate, despite the certified disability, can pursue and complete the MBBS course with reasonable accommodation and assistive technology. The exercise is not meant to reassess the percentage of disability.
The court observed that a candidate cannot be excluded from medical education merely on the basis of the percentage of disability.
An individual assessment of functional ability and the possibility of providing reasonable accommodation is necessary. It specifically noted that the medical boards in the present cases had found the candidates functionally capable of pursuing medical education.
Therefore, merely reducing the certified percentage of disability and denying the candidates the benefit of PwBD reservation was not legally sustainable, the court held.
Allowing all three petitions, the bench quashed the findings declaring the candidates ineligible for PwBD reservation and directed the authorities to include them in the remaining online NEET-UG 2026 counselling under the PwBD reserved category on the basis of their valid disability certificates and UDID cards.
The court, however, clarified that its ruling does not dispense with the requirement of a functional assessment.
A medical board can undertake an individual assessment of a candidate’s functional capacity, but it cannot redetermine the percentage of disability certified by the competent authority under Sections 56 and 57 of the RPwD Act.
(PTI News)
