The Delhi High Court has said that the six weeks time given to pregnant female candidates to achieve the required fitness after delivery during medical examination for recruitment in Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) is very less. The court has also asked the authorities to explore the provision of giving reasonable time in this matter. The High Court said that it may not be possible for a pregnant female candidate to achieve her complete medical fitness and reduce the weight gained during nine months of pregnancy within six weeks.
The court was told that as per paragraph 5.3 of the Guidelines for Medical Examination of Recruitment in Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles, if the urine test related to pregnancy is positive, the candidate will be temporarily disqualified and will be re-examined six weeks after delivery, provided a medical certificate of fitness from a registered medical practitioner is produced.
“This period of six weeks envisaged under the guidelines to enable a female candidate to regain her medical fitness after pregnancy is, in our considered opinion, extremely short, as it may not always be possible for a pregnant female candidate, who has gained weight during pregnancy, to regain her full medical fitness and lose weight within six weeks. A longer period of absence from duty is also envisaged under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961,” a division bench of Justices Rekha Palli and Shalinder Kaur said.
The court directed the concerned authorities to examine this provision of the guidelines in consultation with medical experts to consider providing adequate time within which a female candidate is required to regain her medical fitness after pregnancy.
Applied for the post of SSB Constable (Dhobi)
The court was hearing a plea of a woman who wanted to join the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) as constable (dhobi) under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota but was declared medically unfit on the ground of being 'overweight'.
The case of the woman was that after passing the written examination, she appeared for medical examination in the last stage of her pregnancy. Her medical examination was postponed and she was directed to appear for the examination after delivery.
BMI found to be higher than the norm of 25 BMI
The petition said that when the woman appeared before the medical board, barely four months after the delivery, she was declared “unfit” on the ground of being overweight and was also declared “unfit” in the review medical board as her body mass index (BMI) was found to be 25.3, which was more than the acceptable limit of 25 prescribed for appointment in the CAPFs.
Dissatisfied with the findings, she approached a government hospital in Gwalior, where her BMI was found to be 24.8, but no action was taken by the authorities, following which she approached the High Court for relief.
The bench said though it had no reason to doubt the statement of the authorities that the BMI of the woman was found to be more than 25 during the selection process, it must be considered that the candidate concerned had given birth to a child barely four months before the medical examination and she was entitled to be given another opportunity for examination by a fresh medical board.
The court allowed the plea and directed that he be examined by a fresh medical board within a week and if his BMI is found to be less than 25, he would be appointed as constable (dhobi) within four weeks.
