SC rejects decades-old 'both handsintact' requirement to study MBBS

“It indicates a classification which is overbroad and glorifies ableism. It propagates that persons with typical abilities and with faculties similar to what the majority may have or somehow superior. This is precisely what the directive principles of state policy, the United Nations Nations Nations Convention and the RPwD (Rights of Persons with Disabilities) Act, abhor,” said a bench of justices Bhushan R Gavai and KV Viswanathan.

The court held that barring a candidate at the threshold solely based on physical disability violates constitutional guarantees and international conventions on the rights of persons with disabilities. The judgment stressed that the NMC stipulation of “both hands intact with intact sensations, sufficient strength and range of motion” unjustly bars individuals with upper limb disabilities from pursuing medical education, despite their capability to perform as competent doctors with reasonable accommodations.

The judgment came as the court ruled in favour of an aspiring doctor with a 58% disability, directing his admission to an MBBS course while calling upon NMC to revise its outdated guidelines.