HC relief for paramilitary aspirants disqualified over birthmarks, fungal infection
The court quashed the November reports of Detailed Medical Examination (DME) Board at CISF ISP Nashik and the Review Medical Examination (RME) Board and asked the aspirants to be considered for selection if otherwise meritorious
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday pulled up the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at the India Security Press (ISP) in Nashik for disqualifying three aspiring constables on account of their birthmarks/ fungal infection.
“The CISF cannot distinguish between a birthmark and a disease? A little extra-curricular reading can tell you the difference” a division bench of justices RV Ghuge and Ashvin Bhobe said, as Mangesh Patange, 23, and Vishnu Dhone, 22, were disqualified due to birthmarks on their chest and abdomen, respectively.
The third, aspirant, 25-year-old Vaibhav Panjarkar, was disqualified due to hyperpigmentation on his private parts.
“A fungal infection can happen to anybody and it is curable,” justice Ghuge remarked. “You declare recruitment of 25,000 and this is how you’re knocking out people?”
The court quashed the November reports of Detailed Medical Examination (DME) Board at CISF ISP Nashik and the Review Medical Examination (RME) Board and asked the aspirants to be considered for selection if otherwise meritorious.
Patange, Dhone and Panjarkar from Hingoli had moved court challenging their medical disqualification in the selection process of constables (general duty) for the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), Secretariat Security Force (SSF), Assam Rifles and Narcotics Control Bureau Examination - 2025.
The seven respondents in the case included the union ministry of home affairs, the DME Board at CISF ISP Nashik that assessed the physical fitness of candidates and the RME Board.
The aspirants’ lawyers, Amol G Kale and Akshay A Maske, argued that their disqualification was in violation of the uniform guidelines of 2021 and the revised guidelines of 2021. The guidelines enlisted 29 grounds for applicants to be declared medically unfit, which did not include the conditions that led to the disqualification of the three candidates, the lawyers said.
All three candidates had made it to the physical efficiency test after clearing a computer-based examination.
Patange and Dhone appeared for the DME on November 18 at CISF Nashik when they were declared unfit. A dermatologist they were referred to at the Dr VP Medical College in Nasik opined that their birthmarks were hyperpigmented plaque that was painless and benign. However, the RME still held them unfit on December 20.
Panjarkar appeared for his DME on November 21 at CISF Nashik. Prior to appearing before the RME, he was referred to a specialist at the same hospital who said that his skin irritation was ‘benign non-disqualifying fungal infection’. The RME still held him unfit on November 26.
Though miffed over the waste of judicial time, the judges refrained from imposing costs on the respondents after their lawyer assured the court that such cases would not come before it in future.
The Bombay High Court reprimanded the CISF for disqualifying three candidates from constable recruitment due to benign birthmarks and a fungal infection. The court emphasized that these conditions do not warrant disqualification under existing medical guidelines. The aspirants challenged their disqualifications after passing preliminary exams, highlighting a potential misapplication of medical assessments by the CISF.