Police job in sight, woman refuses to give up fight for height
The woman was disqualified, but she was in no mood to give up.
Already facing flak for its botched-up recruitment process last month in which six candidates died during the tests, the Mumbai police have now been taken to the court by a woman aspirant who fell short of the minimum height mandated for the candidates.
While the aspirant has fallen short of the mandatory height of 155 cms in five measurements taken in different hospitals across Mumbai, she has produced in the Bombay High Court a certificate from an Amravati hospital, which stated her height was 156 cms.
When two different measurements taken by the police saw her falling short of the requirement, the woman visited three government hospitals, which too confirmed her height was less than 155 cms, though these measurements differed.
After much deliberation, the Bombay High Court allowed her to appear for the ground and written tests, but ordered that her results not be disclosed. The court said it would take a decision on her appointment after state-wide police recruitment results are declared in August.
It all began in June when the woman (name withheld) lined up at the city’s police’s Worli Local Arms campus with hundreds of other aspirants to have her vitals measured before being cleared to take part in the five-kilometre run. According to senior police officers, however, she missed the cut by the slimmest of margins – 0.2 cms.
The woman was disqualified, but she was in no mood to give up. She approached Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria and appealed for his intervention.
Maria sent her back to the recruitment venue with instructions that her height be measured once again. The measurement was conducted in the presence of senior police officers, who video-recorded the entire procedure this time.
“We parted her hair and laid it down on her head so that it would not add to her height. We have seen many cases where women conceal pieces of wood or mud inside their hair and then tie a bun. The hair appears very puffed,” said an officer. The second measurement lowered her height even further – to 154.2 cms.
Undeterred, the woman moved the Bombay High Court for relief, submitting a certificate from the Amravati Civil Hospital, which stated she was 156 cms tall.
On July 4, a bench of Justices S J Vazifdar and A K Menon directed that the Medical Board of J J Hospital determine her height. The justices directed the hospital’s dean to submit the findings to the court in a sealed envelope and permitted her to undergo the ground test if she met the requirement.
When the medical board too found her height to be 154.2 cms, visited three different public hospitals in the city, only to be pegged back each time.
“I had my height checked at St George Hospital, Nair Hospital and Rajawadi Hospital. Each hospital found that my height was less than 155 cms,” she said.
At the next high court hearing on July 16, the justices handed her a lifeline by permitting her to take the tests, but the court noted the contradictory measurements.
“Three separate measurements were taken for the purpose of the present recruitment drive and the petitioner’s height was found to be less than 155 cms,” the order states.
However, the court ordered the police not to disclose the results of the ground and written tests and also not announce her appointment until further orders. An order is likely to be passed at the next hearing, scheduled for August 19.
The police said the aspirant sailed through the ground tests and comfortably completed her five-kilometre run. “She is in very good physical shape,” said the officer.
srinath.rao@expresssindia.com
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