A still from Taare Zameen Par, which depicted a boy with learning disabilities

Calcutta High Court on Wednesday wondered why dyslexics shouldn’t be considered physically challenged, saying it was necessary to frame a special rule to do so.

Justice Tapen Sen directed the additional solicitor-general of India, M. Farooque Rezzak, and advocate-general Anindya Mitra to appear in court on July 12 and state what law prevented the Centre and the state governments from making a “special rule to bring dyslexia patients under the purview of the physically handicapped category”.

The order came after the court heard the plea of 19-year-old Payel Sarkar, who was denied admission to the National Institute of Hotel Management, Taratala, under the “handicapped” quota.

“Why are dyslexia patients not considered physically challenged persons?” the judge asked. None of the advocates — representing the petitioner and the respondent — could reply. “There should be a specific rule,” the judge said, asking the state and central legal heads to share their views on the issue.

Payel, a dyslexic, passed her Class XII board exam last year from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Fort William, said Subrata Mukherjee, her counsel.

She appeared for the All India Joint Entrance Examination conducted by the National Council for Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, as a physically challenged candidate.

After counselling, Payel was sent to the National Institute of Hotel Management in Taratala.

“On June 17, when Payel went to take admission, the institute authorities said the documents she submitted weren’t enough to prove her physically challenged. She was asked to get a certificate from a state-run authority,” Mukherjee said.

The lawyer said on June 20, a board of doctors from Calcutta Medical College Hospital examined Payel and certified her as suffering from a learning disorder.

“But the Taratala institute refused to accept this certificate and asked Payel to obtain one from the Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital. But the authorities said they had no authorisation to issue any such certificate.”

The lawyer said Payel went to the state board for the handicapped, which sent her to the National Institute for the Mentally Handicapped Regional Centre. “But the authorities said Payel did not come under the physically handicapped category as she was a dyslexia patient,” Mukherjee said.