Supreme Court Issues Notice In PIL For Braille Labels On Medicines, Consumer Products, Tickets Etc

The Supreme Court today (August 27) issued notice in a Public Interest Litigation seeking guidelines for the implementation of the Braille Integration System in medicine prescriptions, consumer products and currency notes for the benefit of visually impaired persons. 

Senior Advocate SB Upadhyay appearing for the petitioner highlighted that the absence of braille language on medical prescriptions, currency notes and other packages makes the visually impaired persons dependent upon others to understand the information contained in such labels. 

The PIL has been filed under Article 32 by Medhansh Soni (through his mother) who despite being visually challenged has achieved remarkable feats including setting records in the India Book of Records and the esteemed Asia Book of Records. 

The plea underlines the struggles faced by visually challenged persons including (1) difficulty in identifying currency notes (ii) inability to read product labels and medicine management (iii) challenges in navigating public places (iv) barrier in accessing information. In addition to the above, the Demonitisation of currency notes, which drastically changed the size of currency notes, has added to the plight of visually impaired individuals. 

The petitioner contends that the denial of implementing the braille system for visually impaired person violates their right to equality and a dignified life under Articles 14,16,19, and 21 of the Indian Constitution. 

The bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra has issued notice to the respondents, including Central Government agencies and all states, requiring them to file their responses within a period of four weeks.

The following reliefs have been sought in the PIL : 

i. Pass a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction to the Respondents to formulate a policy regarding the Implementation of the Braille Integration System across all domains of public and private sectors.

ii. Pass a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction to the Respondents to formulate policy regarding the embossing of information on consumer products, cosmetics,medical packets and travel tickets;

iii. Pass a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction Respondents to widely publicize the steps being actively taken, if any, in adopting new tools and techniques to reach the ultimate goals of self-support and independence of visually challenged;

iv. Pass such other and further orders as are deemed fit and appropriate in the interest of justice 

The PIL was filed with the assistance of AOR Nishant Kumar 

Case Details : MEDHANSH SONI vs. UNION OF INDIA W.P.(C) No. 000516 / 2024 

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