IAF aspirant gets 2nd chance as high court flags hypertension diagnosis flaw
The court criticised the central govt's failure to adhere to proper medical jurisprudence in labeling a variance in blood pressure as a confirmed ailment.
"The basic medical jurisprudence for reporting a spiked-up blood pressure to be a case of hypertension has not been referred to… In the absence of such clarity, especially in light of contradictory medical opinions, fairness demanded a re-examination," the HC observed while ordering the re-examination.
In its order, released on Wednesday, the HC ordered the petitioner to appear before the Command Hospital, Chandimandir, on Sept 2 or on a suitably fixed date for determining whether the petitioner fulfils the medical conditions prescribed for induction in the IAF.
Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj passed these orders while allowing a petition filed by Deepak, a resident of Bhiwani district in Haryana. In Sept 2020, for the posts of Airmen Group 'X' (Technical) for intake 1/2021 for the recruitment rally to be conducted in Ambala, the petitioner qualified for all the examinations but was declared medically unfit by the Appeal Medical Board, referring to cardiovascular system hypertension.
He was, however, cleared by the appeal board of other alleged conditions like substandard vision and overweight status, but his recruitment was terminated due to the purported diagnosis of high blood pressure.
The petitioner challenged the decision based on three subsequent independent medical evaluations conducted at Civil Hospital, Bhiwani, PGIMS, Rohtak, and a private practitioner. All of them concluded that he was not hypertensive.
The Centre's counsel argued that the recruitment process was concluded and that Deepak had no accrued right to an appointment, suggesting fresh consideration could only occur under the Agnipath scheme. They maintained his blood pressure was "on the higher side and beyond permissible limits" during the initial examination.
However, the court pressed the central govt's counsel to specify the medical jurisprudence required to label blood pressure variance as hypertension, a question for which no relevant medical literature or practice could be provided.
Consequently, the high court has directed Deepak to appear before Command Hospital, Chandimandir on Sept 2, or a mutually fixed date, to determine his medical fitness for induction into the IAF. The bench made it clear that both parties must abide by the re-examination's medical report. Should Deepak be found medically fit, he will be permitted to join the IAF with all consequential benefits.
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