Disability rights are not charity, but Constitutional Guarantees : SC

United News of India

05-05-2025

New Delhi, May 5 (UNI) In a landmark judgment reinforcing the constitutional rights of persons with disabilities, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that 'reasonable accommodation is not a matter of charity but a fundamental right flowing from Articles 14, 16, and 21 of our Constitution.'
The observation came from a Division Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta while directing the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, to allot an MBBS UG 2025 seat to a Scheduled Caste candidate with locomotor disability under the Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) quota.
The Court came down heavily on the arbitrary denial of admission, stating that such exclusionary practices violate fundamental rights and perpetuate historical injustice and systemic discrimination. 'When administrative authorities create arbitrary barriers that exclude qualified PwBD candidates, they not only violate statutory provisions but also perpetuate the historical injustice and stigmatisation,' the Bench said.
The Court said that the 'Mindset must Change' adding that the appellant, a highly meritorious Scheduled Caste-PwBD aspirant, he had been denied admission to the MBBS course despite securing an impressive NEET-UG 2024 All-India Rank of 147946, SC category rank of 7252, and PwBD category rank of 176.
The Court noted that a less meritorious candidate (AIR 159816) had been allotted a seat in AIIMS under the same quota.
Despite his disability, the Medical Board had certified that the candidate demonstrated skilled medical techniques including chest compressions, intubation, cannulation, and suturing with only a minor challenge in putting on sterilised gloves.
The Bench categorically rejected this as a reason for denial: 'This trivial aberration, by no stretch of imagination, can be a ground to deny admission… when he is otherwise qualified and scored an exceedingly high rank.'
The Court further directed the National Medical Commission (NMC) to revise its guidelines for admission of PwBD candidates in line with previous landmark rulings like Om Rathod v. Director General of Health Sciences (2024) and Anmol v. Union of India (2025).
The NMC must complete the revision process before the start of counselling for the 2025-26 academic session to prevent further injustice to deserving candidates.
The Court's order read, 'The denial of admission… was grossly illegal, arbitrary and violative of the appellant's fundamental rights… Such action reflects institutional bias and undermines the principles of equal opportunity and non-discrimination enshrined in our constitutional framework.'
It concluded by reaffirming that the 'constitutional mandate of substantive equality demands that persons with disabilities be afforded reasonable accommodations, not excluded based on unfounded presumptions.'
The Court said that equal rights for persons with disabilities are entitlements, not acts of benevolence.
UNI SNG SJC