Delhi HC Seeks Review of MBBS Migration Ban in PwD Student Transfer Case

The Delhi High Court, through a judgment on Wednesday, has put an end to the overall ban on the migration of MBBS students under the Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023. The court expressed that a total prohibition is a clearly arbitrary act and a violation of fundamental constitutional protections.

Besides, the Court directed the authorities to consider the case of a visually impaired medical student who is willing to relocate from a Rajasthan medical college to Delhi primarily on account of health and disability, related reasons.

A Division Bench consisting of the Chief Justice and Justice Tejas Karia, observed that Regulation 18 of the Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023 which enforced a total ban on the migration of undergraduate medical students, isn't a provision that is legally justified.

The Court remarked that a blanket ban on a prohibition would constitute a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India even in the cases of exceptional or deserving persons and, therefore, such a ban would violate the rights of persons with disabilities.

In addition, the Bench instructed the National Medical Commission (NMC) to review petitioner's migration application without taking into account the bans on migration and to look at his case in terms of disability rights and the necessity for reasonable accommodation. Petitioner, Sahil Arsh, is a visually impaired person to the extent of 40 per cent. He qualified for the NEET, UG 2023 from the Other Backwards Class, Persons with Disabilities category. Although initially, he was not allowed to participate in the counseling under the PwD category which led him to take the matter to the Supreme Court and later the court ordered the authorities to treat him as a PwD candidate. As a result of the delay in his approval for the counseling session, only the stray vacancy round was left for Sahil and hence he had very fewer options. Eventually, he got admission at Government Medical College, Barmer, Rajasthan. Later, the petitioner requested for a migration to Delhi on the ground that his eye condition worsened due to the harsh climate of Barmer and also because he needed treatment at AIIMS Delhi.

The National Medical Commission (NMC) rejected his plea in December 2024 on the ground that the 2023 Regulations had done away with the migration provision completely.

The High Court observed that while it is certainly a correct aim to keep uniform standards in medical education a completely banning migration ignores the true, real, life situations and, therefore, most unfairly deprives the deserving students.

The Court explicitly stated that the possibility of misuse ought not to be a ground for the denial of lawful rights, particularly when it is feasible to carry out reasonable safeguards.

Besides, the Bench observed that the petitioner was largely at the mercy of the situation due to the counselling authorities' not recognising his PwD status timely which thus denying him the chance of picking the right med college earlier. So, blaming him for choosing a far, off college in such a scenario was unreasonable.

Underlining the fact that the authorities are mandated to take reasonable measures, provide accommodations and ensure equality and non, discrimination, the Court, citing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, reiterated the same. It decided that excluding a student from admission whose medical condition had deteriorated as a result of exposure to the environment is a denial of such accommodation.

The Court further underscored that regulatory measures may not disregard human dignity or constitutional protections in pursuit of administrative efficiency.