Student with ovarian mass denied admission in AFMC

Vidushi Gupta was on the top of the world when she cleared her entrance exam to the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) in Pune, one of the premier medical colleges in India, but her dreams were shattered after the college authorities disqualified her due to a mass in her ovary.

A resident of New Delhi, Vidushi cleared the written exam as well as the interview and was given a provisional admission certificate, but during her medical examination, she was diagnosed with a mass in her left ovary due to which she was disqualified by the AFMC.

However, according to experts, the mass in her left ovary can be removed through a minor surgery.

An aggrieved Vidushi has moved the Delhi high court saying that she was not given the exact reason for her disqualification.

Hearing her plea, justice GS Sistani issued a notice to the AFMC, the government of India and the Medical Council of India asking them to reply by August 8.

The court has also directed the college to keep a seat vacant while the case is sub-judice.

“The mass in Vidushi’s left ovary is a minor dormant cyst which would not affect the healthy life of the petitioner in any manner whatsoever. Therefore, the college was not justified in rejecting the candidature of the petitioner,” argued advocate Ashok Agarwal on behalf of Vidushi. Agarwal also added that ultrasound is a primary diagnostic technique and is not a concrete proof.

“It is submitted that advanced / better medical diagnostic techniques like CT Scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could have given the exact finding with respect to the effect of the mass in the left ovary. It is pertinent to mention herein that the father of the petitioner had offered the college authorities to get the CT Scan done at his own cost, which was, however, arbitrarily refused by them,” Agarwal argued.

Quoting the admission rules, Agarwal said, “In case of temporary disability of combat soldiers, the Indian Army allows the soldiers, who wish to enrol for combat duties, to get treated within a period of 6 weeks. It is submitted that no time period was granted to the petitioner for getting the said mass surgically removed through a minor operation.”

Vidushi’s father himself is a qualified neurosurgeon and as per his opinion and the opinion of other senior gynaecologists, the ovarian mass is merely a dormant minor cyst which would not affect the healthy life of the petitioner in any manner whatsoever.