Interim relief granted to dyslexic student seeking UG admission by Delhi HC

New Delhi: A learning-disabled dyslexia student seeking admission to an MBBS course, who was denied a chance to be part of the counselling session, allegedly in violation of the Disability Act, 2017, has now been granted interim relief by the Delhi High Court(HC).

Devrang Purang, the learning disability student and a petitioner in the case has been granted permission to attend the counselling subject to prior verification of documents. The permission comes following a plea that seeks reservation in government institutes of higher education for persons with such disabilities.

While giving directions in the case a Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal said that aspirants seeking admissions under the 'Physically Handicapped' category will be subject to petition outcomes.

The bench asked the respondents issued notices, to file counter-affidavits on the plea within 15 days. Notices were issued to the Medical Council of India(MCI), Centre, Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE).

The petition contended that while amending the regulations titled 'Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997', the respondents had included only one category of disabled persons —the physically handicapped (PH) people suffering from locomotor disability of lower limbs. No other kind of disability was recognized, he added.

Purang, who is dyslexic, had filled the form under the General category in the absence of any other category availability. The cut- General category percentile was 50, while the PH category entitlement was 45. As the petitioner secured 45.83 percentile he was entitled to the same criterion as the PH persons. However, he was not able to seek registration under the PH category.

"Despite having cleared the NEET exam, the petitioner was not considered for counselling. This act is in clear violation of the fundamental rights of the petitioner and other similarly placed persons with similar disabilities," the petition stated.

The petition also revealed that Purang's mother had contacted the Council with regards to the issue, however, no help was forthcoming, leading her to the court, finally, reports DNA.