IMPORTANT POINT
The specialized expertise of medical boards and the provisions of recruitment guidelines play a crucial role in determining fitness for recruitment based on medical conditions, and there is limited scope for judicial interference in such matters.

JUDGMENT

Saurabh Banerjee, J. (Oral) - On 21.10.2023, a notification was issued by the respondents inviting applications from sports persons for the post of Constable (General Duty[Hereinafter referred to as `GD'.]) in Group-'C' non-gazetted (Non-Ministerial) in Sashastra Seema Bal[Hereinafter referred to as `SSB'.] , for which the petitioner applied.

2. On 30.12.2023, after initial documentation and other requisite tests, the petitioner passed the Physical Standard Test[Hereinafter referred to as `PST'.]. Later, on 02.01.2024, the petitioner underwent a Detailed Medical Examination (DME), memorandum qua which was passed on 03.01.2024, which revealed health issues, including perforation in the right ear, drooping left shoulder, malunited left clavicle shaft fracture, hallux valgus in both feet, and abnormal epidermal cells.

3. Thereafter, the petitioner underwent a Review Medical Examination on 04.01.2024 before the Review Medical Board[Hereinafter referred to as `RMB'.], which declared the petitioner unfit due to the malunited left clavicle shaft fracture with dropping of left shoulder on 10.01.2024.

4. Pursuant thereto, the petitioner visited Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, where a Doctor opined that despite the dropping of her left shoulder, she was fit for all physical activities, and the dropping of the shoulder would not impact working conditions.

5. Hence, the petitioner vide the present petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeks quashing of the memorandum dated 03.01.2024 and review medical board order dated 10.01.2024 and direct the respondents to allow the petitioner to appear for a fresh medical examination before an independent board set up by the respondents in consonance with the MHA Medical Policy of 2015.

6. Learned counsel for the petitioner, relying upon the guidelines for recruitment medical examinations in Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles, revised as on May 2015, which mentions the dropping of shoulders as acceptable minor defects in the body, submits that the health issues identified in the memorandum dated 03.01.2024, have never interfered during the entire athletic career of the petitioner and the same was opined by the doctor at the Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi.

7. Lastly, relying upon judgements of this Court in W.P.(C) No.10269 of 2022 titled as Ayush Kumar vs. Union of India and Others, W.P.(C) No.1759 of 2021 titled as Sachin Kumar vs. Union of India and Others, and W.P(C) No.17612 of 2022 titled as Gaurav Baisoya vs. Union of India and Other, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is also entitled to another chance to undergo medical examination for successfully passing the procedural aspects and to be appointed as a Constable (GD).

8. Per contra, learned Panel Counsel for UOI, without filing any counter affidavit, relying upon the `Guidelines for Recruitment Medical Examination in Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles'[Hereinafter referred to as `Guidelines'.] dated May, 2015 Manual submits that both the Detailed Medical Examination[Hereinafter referred to as `DME'.] and the RMB constituted by the respondents comprise of specialised experts in their fields who are the final Medical Authority for determining the standard of recruitment of any candidate like the petitioner herein. It is under these circumstances that he lastly submits that in matters involving adjudication of medical condition of any candidate like the petitioner for recruitment, there is hardly any scope for interference by us.

9. We have heard the learned counsels appearing for all the parties and have also gone through the documents on record.

10. Before proceedings to adjudicate on the merits of this petition, we find that the petitioner herein, admittedly, was first declared medically `Unfit' in the first round by the DME Board on 03.01.2024 and was yet again declared `Unfit' by the RMB on 10.01.2024, both times due to `malunited left clavicle shaft fracture with dropping