Why Delhi High Court rejected candidate’s Indian Military Academy plea

However, it held that candidates must fully and truthfully disclose their medical history so that the armed forces can assess whether any earlier disability or injury continues to affect their fitness.

The court found the non-disclosure to be material and deliberate. It said the petitioner knew of his 2022 injury, hospitalisation, and medical condition when he filled out the form.

It said his subsequent medical fitness certificates for the Coast Guard did not erase his earlier medical history or excuse his failure to disclose it during the CDS selection process. By withholding that information, the court said he prevented the medical boards from assessing whether the femoral injury continued to affect his fitness for Army service.

“In the instant case, we notice that the petitioner has given an incorrect declaration about not sustaining any injury or fracture prior to filling out the application form. The application form was signed on February 23, 2023, and in the declaration given later, he has certified that he had sustained an injury in the year 2016,” the court said.

“The subject injury, which has become a ground for disqualification, was sustained much prior to filling up of the application form; clearly, there is suppression of a material fact by the petitioner with regard to an injury sustained earlier”.

From NDA to CDS exam

The petitioner joined the NDA’s 145th course as an Indian Army cadet in April 2021 after being declared medically fit. During his fourth-term cross-country run, he suffered a stress fracture in his left femur. A medical board subsequently recommended his withdrawal on medical grounds, which was approved in 2022 and finally accepted in February 2024.

His appeal against this was rejected on February 13, 2024. The board declared him permanently unfit for future military service but fit for civil employment. He declined surgery that the medical board said could have reduced his disability by around 50 per cent. He was not granted a disability pension or ex-servicemen benefits.

He later qualified for the Coast Guard’s Assistant Commandant examination and was declared medically fit by Army Hospital (Research and Referral), New Delhi. He also qualified CDS-II 2025 and secured Merit Rank 111.

In the CDS medical examination report dated February 13, 2026, he answered “No” when asked whether he had been discharged from any branch of the Armed Forces on medical grounds or had been hospitalised for any illness, operation or injury.

He did not receive joining instructions for IMA. The Army later said he had failed to disclose his earlier medical withdrawal from the NDA.

He disclosed that he had previously attended the National Defence Academy, but did not mention that he had been medically withdrawn from the NDA following a fracture.