Visually disabled candidate claims irregular medical review cost her an IAS seat: Delhi HC seeks Centre's stand

A visually disabled Civil Services Examination (CSE) candidate has moved the Delhi High Court, alleging that irregularities in medically assessing the disability status of civil services candidates in 2013 led to her being denied a spot in the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) [Ganatra Komal Pravinbhai v. Union of India & Ors.]..The petitioner claims that two other candidates were irregularly granted disability certification so that they could be allotted a civil services seat meant for disabled candidates, thereby depriving her of a reserved IAS vacancy.She argues that the two candidates, although ranked higher than her, were initially not found eligible for reservation under the disabled quota by a medical review board and an appellate body. However, a further Review Medical Board, described as a “Super Appellate Board” by the petitioner, was subsequently constituted, following which the two candidates were granted the benefit of disability reservation.The petitioner has questioned the legality of forming such a "Super Appellate Board."On September 3, the High Court directed the Central government to clarify whether such Review Medical Boards can be constituted after Appellate Medical Boards have already rendered their opinion on the eligibity of candidates to avail disability-based reservation.A Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Shail Jain passed the order."Learned Counsel appearing for the Union of India is directed to file an affidavit of an officer not below the rank of Secretary, stating whether the practice of constituting a Review Medical Board after the Appellate Medical Board has rendered its opinion is being followed across the Board," the order stated. .The plea before the Court was filed by Ganatra Komal Pravinbhai, who secured All India Rank 592 in the 2012 Civil Services Exam, the results of which were published in 2013. She was allocated the Armed Forces Headquarters (AFHQ) Civil Service but claims that she should have been allotted the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) against a vacancy reserved for candidates with blindness or low vision.The dispute concerns two candidates ranked above her - Shailaja Sharma, who secured rank 39 and was allocated IAS, and Lipin Raj MP, who secured rank 224 and was allocated the Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS)..According to the petitioner, the Medical Board and the Appellate Medical Board found Sharma and Lipin Raj ineligible for reservation under the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.However, an extra Review Medical Board was set up thereafter, which granted them the benefit of disability reservation. Pravinbhai has alleged that this further board was constituted to manipulate the process in their favour.She has argued that the CSE 2012 rules contemplated only a Medical Board and an Appellate Medical Board and did not provide for another review thereafter.It was further submitted that the reservation benefit was available in cases of pathological myopia and not simple myopia..Pravinbhai initially filed a plea before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in 2013 seeking relief.The CAT dismissed Pravinbhai’s challenge in November 2018. It found no error in Sharma’s IAS allocation, holding that the applicable disability-certification framework permitted a further examination and that the CSE rules did not prohibit it.The CAT also observed that disturbing service allocations after several years could have cascading consequences.Pravinbhai has now challenged the CAT's decision and sought an allocation to IAS against a reserved, backlog or supernumerary vacancy.The matter will be heard next on September 14..The petitioner was represented by advocates Amit George, Shashwat Kabi, Arnav Bhansali, Medhavi Bhatia, Muskan Shalya, Vaibhav Gandhi, Zubin John, Dushyant K Kaul, Adhishwar Suri, Tanushree Gupta and Rupam Jha..The Centre was represented by advocates Jaswinder Singh, Vedansh Anand and Shivam Kumar. Advocate SM Zulfiqar Alam appeared for the UPSC. Senior Advocate KK Rai and advocates RV Sinha, AS Singh, Shriya Sharma and Subham Khare represented Shailaja Sharma. Advocate Padmakumar S appeared for Lipin Raj MP..[Read Order]