The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Writ on relaxation of norms rejected

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 07, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Writ on relaxation of norms rejected

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, JAN. 6. The High Court today dismissed a writ petition seeking to relax the existing eligibility norms for admission to medical seats.

In his petition, P. Rajaprabaharan sought the quashing of Clause 15(iv) of the 2004-05 medical education prospectus earmarking three per cent of the total seats for persons with 50 to 70 per cent disability.

He also sought a directive providing for reservation for candidates with disability percentage between 40 and 60 per cent, and consequently allot a seat for him. Mr. Rajaprabaharan was denied a seat as he was found to have only 48 per cent disability.

The petitioner further contended that Section 2(T) of the Persons With Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995 laid down 40 per cent disability as the minimum requirement for admission under the quota.

Rejecting the submissions, Justice D. Murugesan, said the State was empowered to identify the source of admissions and fix eligibility norms, and added, "considering the very limited seats available for medical courses, the State Government is always empowered to lay down such admission norms as required, depending upon the availability of seats."

Pointing out that the other clauses in Section 2 of the Act dealt with persons suffering from disabilities such as blindness, cerebral palsy, hearing impairment and mental retardation, the Judge said as Section 2 (T) of the Act referred only to minimum eligibility of 40 per cent disability, "the decision of the State Government in prescribing 50 to 70 per cent disability under Clause 15(iv) of the Prospectus cannot in any way be construed as offending the provisions of the Act."

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