Mere shrinking of Haemorrhoids does not amount to medical fitness for Airman's job: Delhi High Court

Mere shrinking of Haemorrhoids does not amount to medical fitness towards eligibility for the post of an Airman, the Delhi High Court recently observed while rejecting the plea of a petitioner whose application for the post of a Airman to the Indian Air Force had been turned down [Ayush Pandey v Union of India & Ors.]..The observation was made by a Division bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice Navin Chawla."Upon perusal of the prescriptions and post-surgery consultations of the petitioner by his doctors, it was observed that the Haemorrhoids had merely shrunken and that the petitioner was not completely cured of the ailment. Mere shrinking does not amount to medical fitness to be considered eligible for the post of Airman (Non-Technical Post), Grade Y in the Indian Air Force," the Court ruled..The Court was hearing a plea by one Ayush Pandey praying for a direction to the respondents to conduct medical re-examination by the Appeal Medical Board at the Air Force Hospital, so that he could be considered for enrollment in the Indian Air Force (IAF).It was the petitioner's case that he had applied for the post of Airman (Non-Technical Post), Grade Y in the Indian Air Force. After he cleared Phase-I of the recruitment process, he was directed to appear for the Phase II and allotted Chest No. 147 at the Selection Centre in Bhopal.He was then medically examined and by an order dated February 6, 2021 he was declared unfit on account of "Flat Foot, Haemorrhoid Grade III and Left Turbinate Hypertrophy". He moved an appeal before the Appeal Medical Board, where he was again declared medically unfit on the ground of Haemorrhoid Grade III. .It was the case of the petitioner that between the report by Medical Examination and the Appeal Medical Board, he had undergone laproscopic surgery for removal of the Haemorrhoid Grade III.He filed the prescriptions by the Vedanta Hospital, Kanpur. .The Court noted that the fact that the petitioner had to undergo a procedure for curing his ailment proved that the opinion of the original Medical Board was correct and Appeal Medical Board's opinion was not even required."The Appeal Medical Board is merely to ensure that no error is made by the original Medical Board in examining the candidate. Once the Appeal Medical Board has confirmed the finding of the original Medical Board, especially through a specialist, we find no reason to doubt the same," the Court said.The Bench, thus, found no merit in the submissions of the petitioner, and dismissed the petition..[Read Order]