CAT Bars Third Disability Assessment for CSE Candidate After Appellate Board Assessed 40% Visual Impairment

The applicant, who held a certificate recording 40% visual impairment, applied under the PwBD category for the Civil Services Examination, 2025, cleared the examination with All-India Rank 342, and was recommended for further action.

Following examination by the Benchmark Disability Expert Panel at AIIMS, her visual impairment was assessed at 10%. She appealed, and the Appellate Disability Medical Board (ADMB) at Army Hospital (R&R) assessed it at 40%.

DoPT then directed her to undergo assessment at a third hospital because of the differing opinions; the Tribunal stayed those directions.

The ADMB report was subsequently placed on record by DoPT.

Rule 5(11) of Appendix III to the Civil Services Examination Rules, 2025 provides that a candidate appealing the BDEP report will be referred to the ADMB at Army Hospital (R&R), Delhi, and that the ADMB’s opinion is final, with no appeal lying against it.

The Tribunal cited no judicial precedents.

The Tribunal found that the applicant had followed the prescribed appeal process: after AIIMS assessed her visual impairment at 10%, she was referred to the ADMB, which assessed it at 40%.

Because Rule 5(11) makes the ADMB’s opinion final, the respondents could not require another examination merely because the AIIMS and ADMB assessments differed. DoPT was required to proceed on the ADMB report and act on the UPSC recommendation.

There was no order as to costs; pending miscellaneous applications, if any, were disposed of.