Candidates Eligible For Promotion Under 4% Reservation For Benchmark Disability Should Be Considered Under Said Quota: Gauhati High Court

The Gauhati High Court recently directed the State Authorities to consider the cases of two Junior Engineers for promotion to the post of Assistant Engineer against the 4 percent quota reserved for Persons with Disabilities in terms of the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. It was argued that vide several notifications issued in the years 2021 and 2022, a total of 232 Junior Engineers have been promoted to Assistant Engineers including the petitioners, however, all this promotions have been effected without following the reservation policy as well as mandate of the law under Disabilities Act, 2016, rather the petitioners have been promoted on their own merit, which is in total violation of the mandate of the law as well as the judgment of the Supreme Court. “Indisputably, the respondent authorities have not filled up the disability quota since the coming into force of the Disabilities Act, 2016 and in terms of the provision contained in Section 34 which provides that wherein any recruitment year any vacancy cannot be filled up due to non availability of a suitable person with benchmark disability or for any other sufficient reasons, such vacancy shall be carried forward in the succeeding recruitment year and if in the succeeding recruitment year also suitable person with benchmark disability is not available, it my first be filled by interchange among the five categories and only when there is no person with disability available for the post in that year, the employer shall fill up the vacancy by appointment of a person, other than a PwD,” the Court observed. “Accordingly, it is directed that the respondent authorities shall consider the case of the petitioners for promotion to the post of Assistant Engineer post the filing of present writ petitions particularly, with effect from the year 2021 as the authorities, at the relevant point of time, have promoted as many as 83 numbers of Junior Engineers to the rank of Assistant Engineers without adhering to the mandate of law,” the Court said.