$~89 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Date of Decision: 13.04.2026 + W.P.(C) 4910/2026, CM APPL. 24053/2026 and CM APPL.

24055/2026 VIVEK INSA .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Vivek Bhai Patel, Mr. Sonu Sharma, Mr Ajeet Yadav and Mr. SK Devrani, Advs.

versus UNION OF INDIA AND ORS .....Respondents Through: Mr. Abhishek Seth, SPC along with Ms. Achal Gupta, Mr. Mukesh Sachdeva, Mr. Widaphi Lyngdoh and Mr. Bhaskar Joshi, Advs. for R-1 to

5.

Mr. Kartik Sharma, GP.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANIL KSHETARPAL HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AMIT MAHAJAN J U D G M E N T (ORAL) ANIL KSHETARPAL, J.:

1. By way of the present Writ Petition, the Petitioner assails the decision of the Appeal Medical Board dated 24.03.2026, whereby the Petitioner was declared medically unfit for recruitment to the Indian Air Force in Airmen Intake 02/2026, Group ‘Y’ (Non-Technical), Medical Assistant trade, and seeks issuance of a direction for constitution of a Review Medical Board / fresh medical examination.

2. The facts, to the extent necessary for adjudication of the present Petition, are required to be noticed. The Petitioner applied pursuant to the recruitment process for Airmen Intake 02/2026. He appeared in the Phase-I examination on 25.09.2025 and, having qualified the same, was called for Phase-II examination held on 19.01.2026, which he also cleared. He is stated to have successfully passed the physical tests as well.

3. Thereafter, the Petitioner underwent the initial medical examination on 30.01.2026 and was declared medically unfit on four counts, namely: (i) Irregular Rhythm, (ii) Elevated Serum Uric Acid, (iii) Genu Varum, and (iv) Acne Vulgaris over chest and back. Thereafter, the Appeal Medical Board [hereinafter referred to as ‘AMB’] was appointed on 30.01.2026. The Petitioner was accorded an opportunity to appear before the AMB on 25.02.2026.

4. The Petitioner, upon examination by the AMB, was ultimately retained as medically unfit only on account of Elevated Serum Uric Acid. Accordingly, the certificate of unfitness dated 24.03.2026 came to be issued to the Petitioner by the AMB.

5. Aggrieved thereby, the Petitioner got himself tested for Serum Uric Acid at the District Civil Hospital, Bhiwani, on 01.04.2026, where the test reportedly yielded a reading of 3.7 mg/dL, which, according to the Petitioner, was within normal reference limits. The Petitioner further relies on another test conducted at PGIMS, Rohtak, on 03.04.2026, in which Serum Uric Acid reportedly yielded value of

3.9 mg/dL. The Petitioner thus asserts that the reading on the basis of which he has been declared unfit was transient, possibly attributable to factors such as dehydration.

6. The prescribed Physical/Medical Standards for Airmen in the recruitment process expressly provide that the medical examination would include baseline biochemistry, including RFT - Serum Urea, Uric Acid, Creatinine. The standards further provide that a candidate declared medically unfit may avail the remedy of Appeal Medical Board, that the Recruitment Medical Officer and the specialist doctors of Armed Forces are the final authorities on declaring a candidate fit or unfit during the initial medical examination, AMB and medical examination prior to enrolment and that the candidate shall be governed by Armed Forces medical standards which may be at variance from civil standards, with no provision for representation or Review after the AMB.

7. A Coordinate Bench of this Court in SSC & Ors. v. Aman Singh, 2024: DHC:8441-DB has reiterated that, while judicial review over medical opinions in recruitment to disciplined forces is not altogether excluded, the Court must exercise restraint and cannot routinely sit in appeal over the opinion of expert medical authorities. Interference may be warranted where the facts disclose some substantial infirmity, such as breach of the prescribed procedure, notable discrepancy in successive findings, absence of the requisite specialist where the condition so requires, or disregard