Delhi HC restores PwBD status of 2 NEET-UG 2026 candidates; UDID disability % cannot be altered
Synopsis
The Delhi High Court has drawn a firm legal line: a UDID card's recorded disability percentage is sacrosanct, and no Medical Assessment Board can reduce it at the admission stage. Two NEET-UG 2026 candidates — one with 60% visual disability cut to 30%, another with 61% locomotor disability slashed to 16% — have been restored to the PwBD category, with the court warning that allowing such alterations would make the UDID card 'meaningless'.
Key Takeaways
The Delhi High Court on 25 September 2026 ruled that Medical Assessment Boards cannot reduce the disability percentage recorded in a valid UDID card during MBBS admissions.
Justice Jasmeet Singh restored the PwBD status of two NEET-UG 2026 candidates whose recorded disabilities had been downgraded at the assessment stage.
The first petitioner's disability was reduced from 60% to 30% ; the second petitioner Aashiya 's from 61% to 16% , both by Medical Assessment Boards.
The court directed authorities to allow both candidates into the third round and mop-up round of NEET-UG 2026 counselling under the PwBD category.
The ruling is grounded in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and the Supreme Court's judgment in Om Rathod vs.
Director General of Health Services .
The court declined to create supernumerary seats , noting two counselling rounds had already concluded.
The Delhi High Court on 25 September 2026 ruled that Medical Assessment Boards evaluating candidates for admission to the MBBS course have no authority to reduce or override the disability percentage recorded in a valid Unique Disability Identity (UDID) card, and must limit themselves strictly to assessing a candidate's functional competency. The ruling reinstates the Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) reservation status of two NEET-UG 2026 aspirants whose disability percentages had been slashed by assessment boards during the admission process.
Key Ruling and Legal Basis
A single-judge bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh allowed two petitions challenging the actions of Medical Assessment Boards that had downgraded the recorded disability percentages of both candidates. The court set aside the assessment and eligibility certificates issued in both cases and directed authorities to allow the petitioners to participate in the third round of NEET-UG 2026 counselling and any subsequent mop-up round, in accordance with their rank and entitlement under the PwBD category.
Justice Singh anchored the ruling in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, particularly Sections 56, 57 and 59, which vest the authority to certify disability in designated statutory bodies — not admission-stage Medical Assessment Boards. The court held that if any authority is aggrieved by a UDID card's recorded percentage, the proper recourse is to appeal against the certifying authority's decision, not to unilaterally revise the figure during counselling.
What Happened to the Two Candidates
The first petitioner, an 18-year-old candidate with a permanent visual disability, held a UDID card recording 60 per cent permanent disability. His NEET-UG 2026 admit card also acknowledged his blindness and granted him compensatory time. He scored 398 out of 720 and held a PwBD rank of 409. After appearing before the Medical Assessment Board at Lady Hardinge Medical College, his disability was re-assessed at 30 per cent — despite the board certifying him as capable of pursuing MBBS and not posing a risk to patients. The Appellate Medical PwBD Assessment Board at Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital upheld the reduced figure, resulting in his shift to the General category and exclusion from the first round of PwBD counselling.
The second petitioner, Aashiya, had a permanent locomotor disability of 61 per cent recorded in her UDID card. She scored 363 out of 720 in NEET-UG 2026 with a PwBD rank of 638. The Primary Disability Assessment Medical Board re-quantified her disability at 16 per cent, a figure the appellate board confirmed — rendering her ineligible for PwBD reservation and similarly shutting her out of the first counselling round.
What the Court Said on UDID Cards
The High Court observed that the Guidelines on Assessment of Persons with Benchmark Disabilities for Admission to the MBBS Course, 2026, themselves specify that the UDID card 'shall serve as the primary documentary evidence of the existence, nature and extent of the specified disability.' Justice Singh held that while Medical Assessment Boards must independently evaluate functional competency, the provisions 'do not empower the Board to revisit the percentage of disability recorded in the UDID card.'
The court warned that allowing Medical Assessment Boards to alter a UDID card's recorded percentage would reduce it to a 'mere paper formality' and render it 'meaningless' — an outcome incompatible with the intent of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act. It also cited the Supreme Court's judgment in Om Rathod vs. Director General of Health Services, which had directed disability assessment boards to focus on functional competence rather than quantifying disability.
Relief Granted and Limitations
The court directed authorities to treat both petitioners' disabilities as recorded in their respective UDID cards and allow them entry into the third round of NEET-UG 2026 counselling and the mop-up round, if applicable. However, it declined to create supernumerary seats, noting that the first two counselling rounds had already concluded and seats had been allotted. Justice Singh distinguished the petitioners' situation from cases where counselling had fully concluded with no remaining rounds, observing that accommodation remained feasible in the pending rounds.
The verdict is expected to set a significant precedent for how disability percentages are treated in medical admissions going forward, with implications for hundreds of PwBD candidates navigating NEET-UG counselling each year.
Point of View
But the deeper question is why the Guidelines allowed this ambiguity to persist in the first place. With hundreds of PwBD candidates navigating NEET-UG counselling annually, the absence of a clear firewall between functional assessment and disability quantification has evidently been exploited — whether by design or administrative overreach.
NationPress
25 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the Delhi High Court rule about UDID cards and NEET-UG admissions?
The Delhi High Court ruled on 25 September 2026 that Medical Assessment Boards assessing NEET-UG candidates for MBBS admission cannot reduce or override the disability percentage recorded in a valid UDID card. The boards are limited to evaluating a candidate's functional competency and eligibility to pursue the MBBS course.
Who are the two NEET-UG 2026 candidates whose PwBD status was restored?
The first is an 18-year-old with a permanent visual disability of 60% (reduced to 30% by the assessment board), who scored 398 out of 720 and held PwBD rank 409. The second is Aashiya, with a 61% locomotor disability (cut to 16%), who scored 363 out of 720 with PwBD rank 638. Both have been directed to be treated under the PwBD category in remaining counselling rounds.
What relief did the Delhi High Court grant?
The court set aside the assessment and eligibility certificates in both cases and directed authorities to allow the two petitioners to participate in the third round of NEET-UG 2026 counselling and any mop-up round, treating their disabilities as recorded in their UDID cards. It declined to create supernumerary seats since two rounds had already concluded.
What is the legal basis for the ruling?
The judgment relies on Sections 56, 57, and 59 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, which designate specific authorities for certifying disability. It also draws on the Supreme Court's verdict in Om Rathod vs. Director General of Health Services, which held that disability assessment boards must focus on functional competence rather than quantifying disability.
Can any authority challenge the disability percentage recorded in a UDID card?
Yes, but only through the statutory appeal process. The Delhi High Court held that if any respondent is aggrieved by the percentage recorded in a UDID card, the remedy is to appeal against the decision of the certifying authority — not to have a Medical Assessment Board revise the figure at the admissions stage.
