Kendriya Vidyalaya Recruitment: Delhi High Court Directs KVS To Provide 4% Reservation To Disabled Persons Including 1% To Hearing Impaired

The Delhi High Court has directed the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) to provide 4% reservation to the disabled persons in respect of the total vacancies, including 1% reservation for deaf and hard of hearing persons.

“The exercise of appointing disabled persons, including deaf and hard of hearing persons be concluded within a period of six months from the date of receipt of certified copy of this judgment,” a division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula said. 

The bench also directed the Secretary of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to issue guidelines for the implementation of reservation policy for persons with disabilities (PwDs) by all departments in a uniform manner.

“One step may go far in the fulfilment of our promise to the PwDs,” a court said.

The bench observed that there appears to be a “mismatch” in the understanding of different departments regarding the mandate under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act.

“Whereas the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (Nodal Ministry under the RPwD Act) has upgraded the list of posts suitable for the PwDs, the thought has not percolated to the departments which conduct recruitment,” the court said.

It added that a similar “policy disconnect” was noted by the Supreme Court in the case of Vikash Kumar v. Union Public Service Commission and Others, wherein the stand taken by the Nodal Ministry was found to be in contrast with the stand taken by the recruiting agency UPSC.

“This policy disconnect had led to a situation wherein different departments are made to learn the same lesson after individual cases travel to the constitutional Courts. The direct impact of this practice is to compel the PwDs to assert their basic rights before judicial fora, something that cannot be termed as desirable,” the court said.

The bench made the observations while dealing with two pleas, including a suo motu case, concerning the issue of lack of reservation provided for deaf and hard of hearing persons by KVS in the advertisement issued last year inviting applications for various posts of Principal, Vice- Principal, Post-Graduate Teacher (PGT), Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT), Librarian and other posts.

It was the case of the petitioner National Association of Deaf that KVS had not provided 1% reservation for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons in respect of posts and therefore, the said advertisements be set aside and the entire selection should be re-advertised.

Going through the relevant provisions, the court observed that it is mandatory to provide 4% reservation for PwDs, out of which 1% must be exclusively reserved for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons.

The court said that the said mandate is clear and sacrosanct, adding that the KVS did not provide reservation to the persons having benchmark disability under the Hard of Hearing category.

“In the considered opinion of this Court, the KVS has violated the statutory provisions as contained under the RPwD Act. The advertisements in question – on this count alone, deserve to be quashed,” the court said.

Furthermore, the bench added if the process of recruitment is already over, KVS shall provide 1% reservation in respect of the identified posts against the total vacancies notified vide the impugned advertisements to deaf and hard of hearing persons.

The court also said that the KVS shall initiate a drive of special recruitment for filling up the vacancies reserved for various categories of disabled persons, including 1% identified persons who are deaf and hard of hearing.

“The exercise of issuing a fresh advertisement for disabled category of total 4% of posts in the entire organization be concluded within a period of three months from the date of receipt of certified copy of this order,” the court said.

The bench also said that it is unfortunate that disabled persons are being compelled to file writ petitions and to run from pillar to post by an organization like KVS. “They are not claiming any charity, and they are claiming their rights as guaranteed to them under the RPwD Act. The legislature has laid down a noble vision of providing “reasonable accommodation” to persons with disabilities so as to ensure that all possible special measures are adopted to enable the PwDs to perform to the best of their ability. Despite so, instead of creating such reasonable accommodation, the respondent has looked down upon the PwDs from the lens of inconvenience,” the court said.

The bench directed the KVS to issue an advertisement and clear the backlog of vacancies within six months, in respect of the identified posts.

It also directed the KVS to appoint deaf and hard of hearing persons by providing them 1% reservation against the total number of vacancies in the organization.

“Not only this, the KVS shall provide 4% reservation to the disabled persons in respect of total vacancies in the organization – which is the mandate of law. The exercise of appointing disabled persons, including deaf and hard of hearing persons be concluded within a period of six months from the date of receipt of certified copy of this judgment,” the court said.

Counsel for Petitioner: Dayan Krishnan, Senior Advocate (Amicus Curiae) with Mr.Sanjeevi Seshadri, Advocate.

Ms. Sanchita Ain, Mr. Habib Muzaffar and Ms. Sarah Sunny, Advocates with Ms. Manisha Sharma and Mr. Atul Kumar, ISL Interpreters.

Counsel for Respondents: Mr. S Rajappa and Mr. R Gowrishankar, Advocates for Respondent No.1/ KVS. Mr. Kirtiman Singh, CGSC with Mr.Waize Ali Noor and Mr. Yash Upadhyay, Advocates for respondent/ UOI.

Title: COURT ON ITS OWN MOTION v. KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA SANGATHAN AND ORS and other connected matters

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 1041

Click Here To Read Order