Delhi High Court
Surendra Singh vs Secretary (Mha) & Anr. on 2 February, 2021
$~Suppl.-31
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P. (C) 1317/2021 & CM APPL. 3707/2021
SURENDRA SINGH .....Petitioner
Through: Mr. Ranjan Kumar, Advocate
Versus
SECRETARY (MHA) & ANR. .....Respondents
Through: Mr. Avnish Singh, Advocate for
UOI.
% Date of Decision: 02nd February, 2021
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MANMOHAN
HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE ASHA MENON
JUDGMENT
MANMOHAN, J: (Oral)
1. The petition has been heard by way of video conferencing.
2. Present writ petition has been filed challenging the letter dated 25th
November 2019 issued by IG, ITBP and seeks directions to conduct
Review Medical Board under the supervision of specialist doctors and
upon clearing of the same, the petitioner be given joining letter to join as
a Constable with all consequential benefits.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner states that the petitioner was
found unfit in the first Medical Board on account of (i) Anal Tag,
(ii) Blood Pressure 148/100, (iii) Overweight and (iv) Eyesight 6/9. He
further states that the petitioner challenged the aforesaid findings before
the Review Medical Examination Board.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner states that as per the report of the
Review Medical Board dated 04th October 2019, the petitioner's weight,
eyesight as well as blood pressure were found within normal limits and
no Anal Tag was found. However, he states that the petitioner was
declared unfit for combatised service due to low pulse rate of 48 per
minute.
5. Learned counsel for the petitioner states that vide impugned letter
dated 25th November 2019, the petitioner was informed that no appeal lies
against the decision of the ITBP Review Medical Board.
6. He emphasises that the petitioner subsequently got himself
examined in V.M.M.C & Safdarjung Hospital, Dr. RML Hospital, Lady
Harding Medical College and Smt. SK Hospital, New Delhi where he
was declared medically fit.
7. Per contra, Mr. Avnish Singh, learned counsel for the respondent
states that the Review Medical Board comprising specialists, after
repeatedly conducting ECG, has opined that the petitioner is suffering
from Sinus bradycardia (RBBB) and is not fit for joining the ITBP.
8. He further states that the last offer letter was issued to the selected
candidates on 21st December, 2019 and basic training of the batch was
completed on 31st July, 2020.
9. Having heard learned counsel for the parties, this Court is of the
view that it is the Central Armed Police Forces (for short 'CAPF')
doctors who are aware of the high standards of fitness required during the
training and subsequent operations. This Court takes judicial notice of the
fact that both training and operations in CAPF, in particular ITBP, are
extremely demanding in terms of medical fitness of a candidate and a
private Doctor or a Doctor working in Government hospital may not be in
a position to comment on the required medical standards in the CAPF.
10. A coordinate Division Bench of which one of us (Justice Asha
Menon) was a member, in judgment titled KM. Priyanka Vs. Union of
India & Ors., W.P. (C) 10783/2020 decided on 21st December, 2020 has
held as under:-
"8. We have on several occasions observed that the standard of
physical fitness for the Armed Forces and the Police Forces is
more stringent than for civilian employment. We have, in Priti
Yadav Vs. Union of India 2020 SCC OnLine Del 951; Jonu
Tiwari Vs. Union of India 2020 SCC OnLine Del 855; Nishant
Kumar Vs. Union of India 2020 SCC OnLine Del 808 and
Sharvan Kumar Rai Vs. Union of India 2020 SCC OnLine Del
924, held that once no mala fides are attributed and the doctors
of the Forces who are well aware of the demands of duties of the
Forces in the terrain in which the recruited personnel are
required to work, have formed an opinion that a candidate is not
medically fit for recruitment, opinion of private or other
government doctors to the contrary cannot be accepted inasmuch
as the recruited personnel are required to work for the Forces
and not for the private doctors or the government hospitals and
which medical professionals are unaware of the demands of the
duties in the Forces. In fact, the case of Priti Yadav (supra) also
related to 'cubital valgus'. It is also to be noted that the
specialists that the petitioner had consulted had also found that
the petitioner suffered from 'cubital valgus' and therefore, the
findings by the Medical Boards were not wrong. 9. What may
seem as a minor difference in the assessment of the Civil doctors
in comparison to the assessment of the Medical Boards, may
blow up into a serious health condition during the course of
service with the CAPFs. It is not in the interest of either the
Police Forces or candidates that their medical problems are
brushed aside only on the plea that it was a question of
employment. The general health of candidates would be
permanently impacted due to the stress, both physical and
mental, on account of these medical shortcomings. On the other
hand, the government would be saddled with a Police Force
where such personnel would seek soft postings because of their
health conditions and low medical category. This would lead to
dissatisfaction amongst the personnel in the Forces as some
people, who ought not to have been taken into the Forces, would
always benefit, whereas the others would be mostly faced with
hard postings and duties."
11. Since in the present case, specialists in Review Medical Board
have opined that the petitioner is not fit for extreme exertion and he
suffers from Sinus bradycardia (RBBB), this Court is of the view that the
matter calls for no interference in writ jurisdiction.
12. In any event, the present writ petition is highly belated and suffers
from laches inasmuch as the candidates who had appeared in the selection
examination with the petitioner have already completed their basic
training as far back as on 31st July, 2020.
13. Accordingly, the present writ petition and application are
dismissed.
14. The order be uploaded on the website forthwith. Copy of the order
be also forwarded to the learned counsel through e-mail.
MANMOHAN, J
ASHA MENON, J
FEBRUARY 02, 2021
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