The Allahabad High Court has ruled that an NMC-constituted medical assessment board cannot revise the percentage of disability mentioned in a valid disability certificate issued by a competent authority under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act.
A Lucknow bench comprising Justices Shekhar B. Saraf and Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary passed the order while hearing petitions filed by three NEET-UG 2026 candidates Shubham Mishra, Saurabh Rana and Gulfam Ahmed.
The candidates had valid disability certificates recording 45%, 50% and 40% disability, respectively. However, medical assessment boards subsequently reassessed their disability percentages and found them ineligible for reservation under the Persons with Benchmark Disability (PwBD) category.
The court held that the NMC medical assessment process has a different purpose. Under the NMC guidelines, the board is required to determine whether a candidate can pursue and complete the MBBS course with reasonable accommodation and assistive devices. It is not authorised to substitute or modify the disability percentage certified by the competent authority.
The bench further observed that a disability certificate issued under Sections 56 and 57 of the RPwD Act remains valid and binding unless it is set aside by an appropriate judicial or statutory authority.
In the cases before the court, the medical boards had themselves found all three candidates functionally capable of pursuing MBBS. The court therefore quashed the findings that had excluded them from the PwBD category.
The authorities have been directed to include the three candidates in the remaining NEET-UG 2026 counselling under the PwBD category and consider them for seat allocation based on their PwBD All India Rank and applicable counselling rules.
The court clarified that its ruling does not prevent medical boards from conducting functional assessments. Such assessments may determine a candidate’s ability to undertake medical education and the reasonable accommodations required, but cannot be used to alter the percentage of disability recorded in a valid certificate.
