The nature of the job must inform medical fitness assessments; jurisdiction clauses limiting dispute resolution may deny access to remedies.

ORDER :

1. The present Writ Petition is filed to declare the action of the Respondents in denying the appointment of the Petitioner to the post of Deputy General Manager (E-7 Level) in the functions of Company Secretary on medical grounds vide e-mail communication dated 08.08.2024, as illegal and arbitrary.

2. An Advertisement No.07 of 2023 dated 03.05.2023 was issued by the Respondents inviting applications for appointment to the post of Deputy General Manager (E-7 Level) in Respondent-Corporation. The qualification for the said post is that the individual should be a member of ICSI (Institute of Company Secretaries of India). The Petitioner had applied for the said post and was informed to have been shortlisted for selection vide e-mail on 07.09.2023 and the Petitioner was called upon to attend interview on 12.09.2023.

3. Consequent thereto, in the interview, the Respondents had declared that the Petitioner was selected for the said post on merit vide e-mail dated 20.05.2024. As a pre-requisite for appointments, the Petitioner was called upon to undergo pre-employment medical examination at any one of the hospitals run by Respondent No.2- Corporation. The Petitioner being a resident of Visakhapatnam is said to have underwent medical tests and examination at Hospital of NTPC, Simhadri, Visakhapatnam. After medical examination, no further communication was issued to the Petitioner. On enquiry, the Petitioner came to know that he was declared medically unfit due to Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy (HOCM) based on the report of Respondent No.4.

4. The Petitioner, thereafter submitted several communications requesting the Respondents to review the view taken regarding his medical condition stating that HOCM would not cause any hindrance to perform the job of Deputy General Manager even as per the NTPC Medical Norms & Standards for Fitness.

5. Pursuant to the repeated requests of the Petitioner, an e-mail was communicated on 11.07.2024 by the Respondents, where under the Petitioner was called upon to obtain opinion of the Cardiologist on two aspects i.e., (a) Exercise Stress Testing to determine functional capacity and to quantify the degree of functional limitation, if present (b) SCD (Sudden Cardiac Death) risk assessment on a condition that the above tests/investigations would be undertaken in the Cardiology Department of a Government Medical College/AIIMS/PGI under the supervision of a Cardiologist.

6. Accordingly, the Petitioner submitted himself to the NIMS Hospital at Hyderabad and underwent all the above advised tests/investigations undertaken by the Cardiology Department of the NIMS Hospital, Hyderabad.

7. After completion of tests/investigations, the Cardiology Department of the NIMS Hospital submitted an opinion that the medical condition of the Petitioner i.e., HOCM would not in any way cause hindrance to the discharge of duties by the Petitioner. On 08.08.2024, the Petitioner was informed that the Respondents have reconsidered the medical opinions and were of the opinion that the Petitioner is medically unfit in terms of Clauses 14 and 18.4 of the NTPC Medical Norms & Standards for Fitness. In that context, the present Writ Petition is filed.

8. In the Counter-Affidavit filed by the Respondents primarily the fact that the Petitioner was provisionally selected and an offer of appointment was issued on 20.05.2024 was accepted. The preliminary objection is that Clause 8 of the Notification provides that any dispute with regard to advertise