New Delhi, March 25: The Supreme Court has directed the Medical Council of India to set up an expert committee to examine whether colour-blind people can be allowed to study medicine.

In its order, the court questioned the "total exclusion" of the colour blind from medical college admissions. It suggested that determining and stipulating which particular kinds of medical practice they are fit for is a better idea.

Colour blindness, also known as colour vision deficiency, refers to a reduced ability to distinguish between certain colours.

According to the recent order by the bench of Justices Dipak Misra and A.M. Khanwilkar, the "committee of experts" is to include Medical Council of India (MCI) representatives besides experts from the fields of genetics, ophthalmology, psychiatry and medical education.

The court has asked the committee to study international practices relating to colour blindness and suggest suitable changes to India's rules governing medical education.

The committee is to examine the prosthetic aids available to colour-blind medical practitioners and determine which kinds of medical practice they can undertake with these aids.

It will meet within three weeks and hand in a report to the court within three months. The next hearing is on July 11.

Pranay Kumar Podder, a student, had moved a petition challenging a decision by the Tripura government and the MCI to deny him admission to a medical college in July 2015 on the ground of his colour blindness.

Podder had first approached Tripura High Court, citing the absence of any statutory rules or MCI guidelines prohibiting colour-blind people from enrolling in medical courses. The high court dismissed his plea, prompting him to appeal before the apex court.

Tripura and the MCI justified their decision but senior advocate K.V. Viswanathan, appointed amicus curiae to advise the apex court in the case, said Podder should be granted admission.

He cited a UN convention that says people with disabilities should not be discriminated against, and to which India is a signatory.

Justice Dipak Misra, writing the judgment, said the bench was "not deciding the controversy at present, for we are inclined to issue certain directions to have a complete picture and projection".

But, he added: "Total exclusion for admission to medical courses without any stipulation in which they (colour-blind students) really can practise and render assistance would (be) tantamount to regressive thinking."

Advocating "a humane, magnanimous and all-inclusive" approach, he wrote: "The march of science, apart from our constitutional warrant and values, commands inclusion and not exclusion. That is the way a believer in human rights should think."

Colour-blind students are barred from certain courses at the Indian Institutes of Technology, such as petroleum and mining engineering, geology and geophysics.