Delhi High Court
Pramod Singh Parihar vs Union Of India & Ors on 13 February, 2018
$~10.
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(C) 3188/2017
PRAMOD SINGH PARIHAR ..... Petitioner
Through: Mr. Randhir Singh Kalkal, Advocate
versus
UNION OF INDIA & ORS ..... Respondents
Through: Mr. Rajesh Kumar, Advocate with
Surg.Cdr Narayan S., Medical Officer.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE HIMA KOHLI
HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE PRATIBHA RANI
ORDER
% 13.02.2018
1. The present petition has been filed by the petitioner being aggrieved
by the rejection of his candidature to the post of a Sailor on the ground that
he was found to be medically unfit.
2. A brief glance at the facts of the case is considered necessary. In
November, 2015, the respondents/Indian Navy issued an advertisement
inviting applications from the public at large for enrolment to the post of a
Sailor. The petitioner had responded to the said advertisement by submitting
an application. After qualifying in the written examination, on 08.04.2016,
the petitioner underwent a primary medical examination at the Recruitment
Centre at Almora, where he was declared temporary unfit on two counts,
namely, (i) Sclerotic Tympanic Membrane Both Ears and (ii) Convergence
Deficiency Left Side. Thereafter, the petitioner was presented before the
Review Medical Board at the Command Hospital, Lucknow on 10.05.2016
and was declared fit for both the above diseases. On 16.08.2016, the
petitioner's final medical examination took place at INS Chilika, where he
was again declared temporarily unfit for Otomycosis Right Ear. On the
same date, the petitioner was made to appear before an ENT Specialist at
INHS Nivarini, at Chilika and he was declared unfit on account of (i)
chronic otitis media effects bilateral 1. Tympanosclerosis Bilateral 2.
Retracted TM Bilateral (ii) Bilateral Otomycosis.
3. Aggrieved by the aforesaid decision, the petitioner had on his own
presented himself before the AIIMS Hospital, New Delhi on 27.08.2016 and
03.09.2016 and the ENT Specialist had given a finding in terms of a report
enclosed with the petition as Annexure P-5 (colly). In the said report, the
Senior Resident, ENT at AIIMS Hospital had observed that the petitioner
did not have any hearing complaint or discharge from his ear, on evaluation,
his Tympanic Membrane was found to be intact and on audiogram
evaluation, hearing was found to be within normal limits. Thereafter, the
petitioner had approached the respondents under the RTI Act to gather
necessary documents relating to his medical examination and served a legal
notice on the respondents on 19.09.2016, which was duly responded to vide
reply dated 26.10.2016, wherein the respondents had stated that the
petitioner had been examined by Specialists before he was declared unfit
and no review was permissible thereafter. Hence, the present petition.
4. Counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner was earlier
declared unfit at Almora in April, 2016, declared fit at the Command
Hospital, Lucknow and yet again declared unfit at INS Chilika and INS
Nivarini, which shows that the respondents have been vacillating with
regard to the petitioner's medical condition, whereas the Specialist at AIIMS
Hospital, New Delhi has declared him fit.
5. Counsel for the respondents is accompanied by Surg.Cdr Narayan S.,
Medical Officer, who has clarified to us that the condition of "Sclerotic
Tympanic Membrane" can be a recurring problem and indicates perforation
in the ear drum, which condition as in the case of the petitioner, does heal,
but leaves a scar. He states that if the petitioner's candidature would have
been accepted, then as a Sailor, he is expected to excel in swimming and
have frequent contact with water, that can cause a recurrence of the same
fungal infection and this is what has been noticed during the petitioner's
medical examinations, as noted above.
6. Counsel for the respondents has also drawn our attention to the report
of the ENT Specialist at AIIMS Hospital, which Dr. Narayan has clarified,
states that the petitioner does suffer from "Myringosclerosis". He submits
that the condition, "Myringosclerosis patch" is the same as
"Tympanosclerosis", as mentioned in the Medical Report of the petitioner
prepared by the Review Medical Board. He further points out that even the
doctor at AIIMS Hospital had noticed that the petitioner has white patches in
both his ears, which is in consonance with the report of the Review Medical
Examination. In such circumstances, it is submitted that it is not advisable to
recruit the petitioner to the post of a Sailor, since it entails regular contact
with water and in view of his medical history, the fungal infection can
reoccur and likely to escalate the disability/defect.
7. Having heard the submissions of the counsels for the parties and on
going through the records, it is an undisputed position that out of four
medical examinations conducted in respect of the petitioner, the first one at
the Recruitment Centre at Almora, the second one at the Command Hospital,
Lucknow, the third one at INS Chilika and the fourth one at INHS Nivarini
also at Chilika, he was declared fit only on one occasion on 10.05.2016.
Thereafter, he has been declared unfit having found to be suffering from
"Sclerotic Tympanic Membrane" of both ears, which position has been
confirmed by the ENT Specialist at AIIMS Hospital.
8. Having regard to the fact that the job of a sailor for which the
petitioner has applied requires absolute physical fitness and he would be
expected to be an excellent swimmer which would bring him into frequent
contact with water, it's likely to aggravate the condition of his ear. The
respondents cannot be faulted for declaring the petitioner medically unfit as
the standard of fitness in this case is much higher than one required for a
civil post.
9. Accordingly, the present petition is dismissed, while leaving the
parties to bear their own costs.
HIMA KOHLI, J
PRATIBHA RANI, J
FEBRUARY 13, 2018
rkb/ap
