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The Allahabad High Court on Thursday asked the Union Government of India as to why it is not considering the candidature of the three Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) candidates post removal of their religious tattoo due to which they were declared medically unfit for the post of Head Constable (Ministerial).

The bench of Justice Siddhartha Verma passed the order on the petition filed by the three SSB candidates who have alleged that they were ousted from the recruitment process only for having small religious tattoos on their 'right' forearms.

To be noted, as per the guidelines issued by the Indian Army pertaining to "tattoo policy for candidates appearing for SSB interview with permanent body tattoo(s)", non-offensive, small tattoos are allowed on the forearms of 'both' the hands, however, as per medical guidelines issued by Additional Director General, Medical (SSB), such a tattoo is only allowed on the left forearm. 

The petitioners' main contention is that though no such rule was mentioned in the advertisement issued by the SSB for the Head Constable post, they got their tattoos removed after the first medical examination, however, still they are being denied the opportunity for medical re-examination.

Therefore, terming their declaration as medically unfit only because they had religious tattoos on their right-hand forearm instead of left arbitrary, the petitioners have sought directions from the Court for quashing the impugned medical reports.

The petitioners have also prayed the High Court for a direction to the SSB recruitment office to conduct a re-medical Board for giving them a proper opportunity again after the removal of the tattoo. The petitioner had also urged the Court to quash medical reports by which they were declared medically unfit.

Directing Additional Solicitor General of India, S.P. Singh to file reply as sought, Court posted the matter on March 7, 2022, for further hearing.

Case Title: Avneesh Kumar and 2 others vs Union of India and 4 others