Delhi High Court
Sh. Aman Saini vs Staff Selection Commission & Ors. on 12 February, 2021
$~A-1
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P. (C) 931/2021, CM APPL. 2541/2021
SH. AMAN SAINI .....Petitioner
Through: Mr. Khagesh Seth, Advocate.
Versus
STAFF SELECTION COMMISSION & ORS. .....Respondents
Through: Mr. Prakash Kumar, Central Govt.
Sr. Counsel.
% Date of Decision: 12th 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 seeking a direction to the
respondent to re-assess and re-evaluate the height of the petitioner and if
found to be 170 cm, pass the petitioner in the Physical Standard Test
(PST) already held on 17th December, 2020. Petitioner further prays for
permission to appear in the Computer Based Examination (CBT-II) of the
Sub-Inspector in Delhi Police, CAPF and Assistant Sub Inspector in CISF
Examination, 2019.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner states that the petitioner had
filled the form to appear in the aforesaid examination, 2019 and the
petitioner has cleared the Computer Based Examination (CBT-I) as well
as the Physical Endurance Test (PET).
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner states that the petitioner
subsequently appeared for the Physical Standard Test (PST) where the
height of the petitioner was incorrectly measured as 169.5cm and the
petitioner was therefore disqualified from the PST examination since the
petitioner's height was less than the minimum standard required which is
170.0 cm.
5. He points out that the petitioner subsequently got his height
measured in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi and B L Kapoor Hospital,
New Delhi wherein the height of the petitioner was measured as 170.0 cm
and 170.5 cm respectively. Therefore, learned counsel for the petitioner
prays that the wrong result of the PST exam be set aside and the
petitioner be allowed to appear in the CBT-II exam which is expected to
be held on 26th March, 2021 tentatively.
6. Having heard learned counsel for the petitioner, this Court finds
that the height of the petitioner keeps on increasing by 0.5 cm in every
subsequent hospital that he visits!
7. It is settled law that for the recruitment in CAPF, it is the
CAPF/Army Hospitals, Specialists, who are aware of the high medical
standards required during the training and subsequent operations. A
coordinate Division Bench in K.M Priyanka vs. Union of India & Ors.,
W.P(C) 10783/2020 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
W.P.(C)10783/2020 Page 5 of 5 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."
8. In the present case, the petitioner's height was measured by the
respondent twice i.e. by the Medical Board as well as by the Appellate
Medical Board and on both the occasions, his height was found to be less
than 170 cm.
9. Accordingly, this Court is of the view that the present matter calls
for no interference and the writ petition and application stand dismissed.
10. 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 12, 2021
TS
