Supreme Court: No Discrimination Against PwD Candidates In Judicial Recruitment

On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that candidates with PwD (Persons with Disabilities) must not face discrimination in the judicial services recruitment process. It emphasized that the government must ensure reservations to create an inclusive system.

A Bench, comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan invalidated Rule 6A of the Madhya Pradesh Judicial Service (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1994.

This provision had barred visually impaired and completely blind candidates from applying for judicial positions.

The case originated in March last year when the Supreme Court took suo moto cognizance of a letter petition submitted by the mother of a visually impaired candidate aspiring for a judicial position in Madhya Pradesh.

Treating the petition as a writ petition under Article 32, the then CJI DY Chandrachud-led Bench issued notices to the Union government, the Madhya Pradesh government, and the Registrar General of the MP High Court.

It also appointed senior advocate Gaurav Agrawal as amicus curiae.

In an interim order, the court allowed visually impaired candidates who secured minimum qualifying marks in the preliminary examination to appear for the main exam.

The court directed, “The High Court shall make arrangements to permit a scribe for each visually impaired candidate who will appear for the main examination. Such candidates shall also be given additional time to complete the examination at the rate of 20 minutes per hour of the examination.”

Rule 6A, introduced in June 2023, had reserved 6% of judicial posts for individuals with locomotor disabilities, including leprosy-cured persons, those with dwarfism, muscular dystrophy, and acid attack survivors.

However, it excluded individuals with cerebral palsy, as per Section 34 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.

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