The Supreme Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh authorities to appoint a woman candidate as a Constable in the Civil Police after she was declared medically unfit over an alleged squint despite clearing all tests, relying on a report by a medical board of King George's Medical University (KGMU), Lucknow, that certified her vision as normal, Law Trend reported on November 2.
Source: Law Trend
A Bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi allowed the appeal filed by Akanksha Devi — Civil Appeal No. 14041 of 2026, decided on November 2, 2026 — and set aside the High Court order that had dismissed her plea for a fresh medical examination, according to Law Trend and Law Chronicle's account of the judgment.
Source: Law Chronicle
Akanksha Devi applied under the U.P. Police Constable Civil Direct Recruitment, 2023. She cleared the Document Verification and Physical Standard Test at the Reserve Police Line, Kanpur Dehat, on December 28, 2024, and was called for a medical examination on April 22, 2025, where she was orally informed that she was unfit due to a squint in the eyes. A re-examination by the Division Medical Board on April 25, 2025, under Rule 15(6)(d) of the UP Police Constable and Head Constable Service Rules, 2015, again declared her unfit, and no rejection order or endorsement was given to her.
She then consulted two eye specialists in Kanpur — Dr. Parvej Khan of G.S.V.M. Medical College and Dr. Rizwan Ahmad of UHM District Hospital — who found her vision and colour perception normal. Her representation of May 16, 2025, seeking a fresh examination by an independent authority was rejected, and the High Court dismissed her petition on the ground that the selection process had concluded.
By an order dated September 15, 2026, the Supreme Court directed KGMU to set up a board of ophthalmology experts. A team of four doctors examined her on October 8, 2026, and recorded best corrected vision of 6/6 in both eyes, with ocular direction straight and ocular movements within normal limits; the orthoptic clinic recorded exophoria to intermittent exotropia with good control.
Relying on the report, the Bench observed that it persuaded the court to accept her plea of having been deprived of her legitimate right to appointment as a Police Constable (Civil Police) after successfully clearing all the tests, and said it was acting in the peculiar facts of the case, particularly as the KGMU board had certified her vision as proper and normal.
The court directed the respondents to issue her an appointment order or call letter if she is otherwise entitled, while making it explicitly clear that she shall not claim seniority over the candidates who have already been appointed till date.