Sweaty palms, patchy hair loss can’t be reasons for denying CAPF job: HC
Times of India | 7 February 2026
Kolkata: Sweaty palms, patchy hair loss, and birthmarks cannot be grounds to disqualify a candidate for the post of constable under the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), Calcutta High Court recently held in three cases.
In the first case, Md Ashik Mondal qualified in both written and physical standard tests, but in a review medical exam on Nov 21, 2025, he was declared unfit on the ground of palmar hyperhidrosis (sweating of the palm). The authorities deduced that the sweaty palm was due to nervousness (nervous instability).
Clause 6 (16) of the revised medical guidelines of May 2015 for recruitment of CAPF constables says, "Mental or nervous instability — evidence of nervous instability can be under general grounds of rejection". However, Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya on Thursday flagged absence of conclusive medical findings to reach this conclusion and said it was rather "on surmise and conjecture it was deduced that he was unfit due to sweating of palm".
It was held that an attempt made to apply Clause 6 (16) was "not tenable", and the CAPFs were directed to treat Ashik as medically fit and appoint him in 2 months, subject to fulfilment of other eligibility conditions.
In the second case, Prosanta Bag qualified in written and physical standard tests for constable post. However, in a review medical exam on Dec 2, 2025, he was declared unfit due to alopecia over the scalp (patchy hair loss). According to authorities, Bag had ‘scarring alopecia', which, according to them, was a chronic disease, and that could be grounds to declare a candidate "unfit".
It was stated that chronic diseases like tuberculosis, syphilis, or other venereal disease, rheumatoid or any type of arthritis, hypertension, amongst others, can be a reason for declaring a candidate unfit. However, in a review medical examination, experts opined that alopecia over the scalp cannot be described as a chronic disease. In another report, it was stated that scarring alopecia was also not found to be a chronic disease. Justice Bhattacharyya on Jan 29 directed authorities to declare him medically fit and appoint him to the post of constable in eight weeks.
In the third case in early Jan, the candidature of Ankan Pal was rejected on the ground of having nevus depigmentosus (a light-coloured birthmark caused by a lack of skin pigment). The CAPF counsel submitted that nevus is one of the grounds to declare a candidate medically unfit. However, Justice Bhattacharyya took note of the report by the AIIMS Kalyani medical board. "Skin issue of the candidate is also not termed as dysplastic nevus syndrome; rather, it is opined in the report that nevus depigmentosus, as it was found while examining the candidate, is not heritable and non progressive," Justice Bhattacharyya noted, directing the authority to appoint Ankan in 8 weeks.