Hindustan Times: Chandigarh: Saturday,
April 22, 2017.
The Punjab
and Haryana high court has advised defence forces to put reasons for rejection
of a candidate on medical ground in the process of recruitment, on its website.
The high
court bench of justice RN Raina observed that defence services being all India
services, candidates apply from far flung places. It is an arduous endeavour to
seek justice from Delhi and other parts of India where candidates are medically
checked up, the bench said.
“This will
instill faith in information available in public domain by putting parties to
advance notice after the final results are known to the authorities,” it said.
The high
court was hearing a plea of a Hoshiarpur resident, who was a candidate for recruitment
of sailors in Indian Navy in 2016. He was declared medically unfit at the first
stage for tachycardia (an abnormally rapid heart rate) and impacted wax
(buildup of layers of earwax within the ear). In the review, the candidate was
declared fit on these two counts but diagnosed with chronic otitis media
effects of bilateral (inflammatory diseases of the middle ear).
Since no
document was supplied to him, he procured the review board record through right
to information (RTI) and as the opinions differed, he got himself examined at
Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh.
The PGIMER
termed him fit on all counts. Following this, he approached the high court in
October 2016. The court referred his case to Army Research and Referral
Hospital, Delhi Cantt, which termed him fit.
While asking
the navy for his induction, the HC also took note of the petitioner’s counsel,
who had argued that forces should consider that in cases where candidates are
rejected on medical grounds, the gist of the reasons for rejection, if not
provided to the candidate, should at least be put on the website so that they
can easily access it. This will save time and expense of contestants pursuing
requests under the Right to Information Act, 2005 and other legal means, the
petitioner had argued.
“Information
put timely on the official website in such cases will help the interested
persons to notice their shortcomings and deal with them. The suggestion
commends itself to me as a transparent process. This court trusts the
authorities, which must already be seized of this problem, and if not, they may
consider putting a rational system in place,” justice Raina said, expressing
hope that authorities would take appropriate measures.