The Delhi High Court on March 7 said it will hear on March 12 a plea challenging a Medical Council of India (MCI) notification which barred over 80 per cent of disabled persons from taking admission in medical education programmes.

The order came after the MCI informed a bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V. Kameswar Rao that it has taken some decision on the issue which would be communicated to the court on the next date fixed for hearing. The court was hearing a plea filed by Mohd. Shaloo, having a benchmark disability of 90 per cent, challenging the February 4 notification which made him ineligible to study further medical course.

Shaloo's counsel Gaurav Kumar Bansal requested the court to set aside the notification as it is highly irrational, arbitrary and discriminatory. The counsel said that Shaloo is a doctor who has served as junior resident in Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and has cleared National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET PG) with a good rank but now ineligible to do postgraduation due to the notification.