Visual disability no bar to become a judge: Supreme Court

Citing the examples of blind accomplished individuals who have excelled and made significant contributions to the field of law, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that visually impaired candidates cannot be said to be ‘not suitable’ for judicial service.

Advertisement

Visually-impaired candidates are eligible to participate in selection for the posts under the judicial service, a Bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan said, striking down Rule 6A of the Madhya Pradesh Judicial Service (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1994, which excluded visually-impaired and low-vision candidates for appointment in judicial service.

It also quashed the proviso to Rule 7 of the Madhya Pradesh Judicial Service (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1994 relating to additional requirement (of three-year law practice or securing an aggregate score of 70% in the first attempt) for differently-abled persons who have the requisite educational qualifications for applying to the posts under judicial service, saying it violated the equality doctrine and the principle of reasonable accommodation.

The top court clarified that “For the purpose of rights and entitlements of persons with disabilities, particularly in employment, and more specifically in respect of the issues covered in his judgment, there can be no distinction between Persons with Disabilities (PwD) and Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD).”

It directed the respective authorities “to proceed with the selection process for appointment of the judicial officers, in the light of this decision and complete the same, as expeditiously as possible, preferably, within a period of three months, from today.”  It gave similar relief to candidates from Rajasthan.

The Bench cited the examples of senior advocate SK Rungta, visually impaired lawyer and the Centre for Internet and Society Policy Director Nirmita Narasimhan who played a key role in drafting India's National Policy on Universal Electronic Accessibility, former judge of the South African Constitutional Court Justice Zak Mohammed Yacoob, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Justice David S Tatel and distinguished Canadian lawyer David Lepofsky and several others to drive home the point that visual impairment was not a real hurdle to success in the legal field.

“The overall analysis would demonstrate that a rights-based approach necessitates that PwDs must not face any discrimination in their pursuit of judicial service opportunities, and instead, there must be affirmative action on behalf of the State to provide an inclusive framework. Now, it is high time that we view the right against disability-based discrimination, as recognized in the Rights of Persons with Disability Act 2016, of the same stature as a fundamental right, thereby ensuring that no candidate is denied consideration solely on account of their disability,” the Bench said.

The judgment came on petitions highlighting the denial of reservations to such candidates in judicial services of certain states, including Madhya Pradesh from where the mother of a visually- impaired candidate wrote to the top court last year against a rule in the MP Judicial Services (Recruitment and Service Conditions) Rules that prevented visually impaired candidates from seeking appointment in the state judicial services. The letter was converted into a PIL by the top court.