Medically unfit cannot be declared disabled: IHC

Court throws out case of short-legged lawyer trying to get job on disabled quota

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) has declared that people classified as medically unfit will not be entitled to receive employment from the quota reserved for the disabled people in federal government departments.

IHC Justice Shaukat Siddiqui, while hearing a petition the other day, observed that being medically unfit and being disabled were two different things.



He said that employment quota reserved for disabled people should not go to people who were only ‘unfit’ for the job.

The high court’s order came in light of confusion over reserved seats for the disabled persons appearing in competitive examinations held by Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC).

Advocate Gibran Rasheed Khan had moved the court through his petition demanding status of a disabled person for himself because he was medically unfit due to a short leg.

Advocate Khan presented himself for the arguments in his personal capacity. Hearing for the petition was held by IHC Justice Shaukat Siddiqui, who had also summoned officials of the Federal Public Services Commission (FPSC) officials to present their views.



In his explanation for the petition, Advocate Khan maintained that a birth defect had turned him medically unfit and that he deserved to get FPSC candidacy through its quota disabled quota. “One of my legs is shorter from the other, making me medically unfit and entitled for disabled quota,” the petitioner stated.

“I request the court to order FPSC to consider me as a candidate under disabled quota,” he said in the plea.

The lawyer representing FPSC revealed that the petitioner had already passed the competitive examination and his interview had also been conducted. She advised the petitioner to wait until the results were announced.

Justice Siddiqui maintained that the petitioner seemed to exercise good health and his demand for entitlement for disabled quota was beyond understanding.

The court dismissed the petition and observed that the criteria for medically unfit would not qualify the criteria meant for the disabled. “Having one leg shorter than the other does make one medically unfit but not disabled,” the court said in its concluding remarks “the petitioner could not be considered as a disabled person in any manner.”



The court also observed that the practice of FPSC candidates qualifying for disabled criteria while being medically unfit lacked rationale and that FPSC should discourage such practice.

In his remarks, Justice Siddiqui said the petitioner seems to be the healthiest person in the court room, “even then you want to get employment on disabled quota. The court does not consider you disabled because medically unfit cannot be declared disabled.”

With this short order the court disposed of the case. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2018.