No candidate to be denied of consideration in judicial services due to disability: SC

The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a provision in the Madhya Pradesh Judicial Services Rules, 1994, preventing visually impaired and low vision candidates from appearing for judicial service in the state. A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said, “It is high time that we view the right against disability-based discrimination, as recognized in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 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 court was deciding a suo motu petition instituted in January 2024 on a letter received from the mother of a blind candidate wanting to join the judicial service in Madhya Pradesh. The 122-page judgment, written by justice Mahadevan said, “The principle of reasonable accommodation, as enshrined in international conventions, established jurisprudence, and the RPwD Act, 2016, mandate that accommodations be provided to PwDs as a prerequisite to assessing their eligibility.” The court held, “Any indirect discrimination that results in the exclusion of PwDs, whether through rigid cut-offs or procedural barriers, must be interfered with, in order to uphold substantive equality.” Justice Mahadevan said, “The Constitution of India is blind to the differences between able-bodied and differently abled citizens in matters of providing equal opportunity to all citizens in all spheres of life, including employment, and envisages equality and non-discrimination.” Adopting a rights-based approach, the judgment said that constitutional courts have a duty to provide an enabling environment and atmosphere to ensure PwDs get equal opportunities and accommodation to enable them to lead their lives with dignity, realising their fullest potential without facing discrimination. The court said, “The impugned rule, which is based on the medical report of a doctor, in the light of the foregoing analysis, cannot have any place in the disability jurisprudence that is ever evolving in a country like ours.” The bench further reasoned that once a person with low vision or blindness is permitted to obtain law course, “all other opportunities, whether in the form of practice as well as appointments, assignments whether public or private, would automatically make them eligible to participate for selection to the same.” It said, “Relaxation can be done in assessing suitability of candidates when enough PwD are not available after selection in their respective category.” It even mandated separate cut off for each category, including PwD, as it said, “non-declaration of cut-off marks affects transparency and creates ambiguity, and candidates being not informed about the basis of their results.