Consider Enabling Hearing Impaired Persons To Apply For The Posts Of Primary School Teachers: Rajasthan High Court to State Government

The Bench of Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Satish Kumar Sharma was hearing the plea of one Kaushalya, seeking a direction to State Government to include persons with locomotive disabilities as well as who are hard of hearing (hearing impairment) under the category of reservation for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.

The matter before the Court

The petitioner's Counsel also placed before the Court, the recent notification issued by the Union of India (dated 04^th January 2021) notified by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in terms of which identified posts are to be reserved for persons with disabilities after review of such list.

Significantly, pursuant to the directions of the Rajasthan High, in the case of State of Rajasthan Versus Vikas Kumar Agarwal (decided on 02^nd July 2013), the State of Rajasthan had carried out necessary amendments in the notification and had included blind people in the area of reservation for recruitment of Primary School Teachers.

Consequently, this led to the instant petitioner not being considered as a reserved category for a post reserved under the Act of 2016.

The Advocate General produced the said notification and submitted that in terms of the notification issued by the State of Rajasthan, the petitioner cannot be given the benefit of reservation or consideration of posting under the Act of 2016 since persons with hearing impairment cannot be inducted as Primary School Teachers.

In this backdrop, the Court directed the State of Rajasthan,

"(To) consider amending its earlier notification and to bring it in line with the suggestions made by the Union of India to the extent it intends to do so."

Further, without expressing any opinion in this regard, the Court called upon the State Government,

"To issue necessary modified notification under the Act of 2016 and shall reconsider the applicability of the notification issued by the Union of India in all the various departments of the State of Rajasthan within a period of three months from today."

The Court also expressed hope and trust that the State of Rajasthan will take an early decision in this regard as the circumstances merit.

In related news, the Calcutta High Court recently set aside an order removing a blind Professor from the position of Head of the Bengali Department by the Haringhata Mahavidyalaya, primarily on the ground of his physical disability.

A Single Bench of Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur noted that the memo dated 31st July, 2017, whereby the petitioner was removed, is in direct violation and contravention of the provisions of the Rights of Persons With Disabilities Act, 2016.

"On a perusal of the impugned Memo it is evident that save and except physical disability on the ground of eye blindness, there is no other ground alleged in the impugned Memo whereby the petitioner has been removed as Departmental Head from the Department of Bengali in the concerned college.

I find that impugned Memo is also in direct violation and contravention of the 3 provisions of the Rights of Persons With Disabilities Act, 2016 and particularly violative of the provisions of Section 20 of the said Act," the Bench said.

Case title – Kaushalya v. State of Rajasthan and others [D.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 18386/2019]

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