Court Orders Quota For Special Candidates In educational institutions

The Delhi High Court has recently directed the Delhi Government to ensure strict adherence to the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, by implementing a 5% reservation for disabled candidates in all educational institutions.

A Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Saurabh Banerjee specifically instructed Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University to reserve seats for disabled individuals in accordance with the law.

This order comes in response to a PIL filed by the non-governmental organization, Justice for All, which alleged that the university was not complying with the Act’s provisions by failing to provide the mandated 5% reservation.

The court stated the Delhi Government and the university that, “shall make all possible endeavor for filling up the seats meant for specially-abled persons by providing reservation to all categories of specially-abled persons”.

The court stated in its recent order that, “The university, as well as the State Government, are directed to ensure that in all educational institutions, the statutory provisions governing the field under the RPWD Act are followed and 5% reservation is provided to specially-abled persons.”

In May, the High Court already instructed the university to provide reservations for disabled candidates in the ongoing academic session.

Furthermore, the petitioner raised concerns that the university was only providing a 3% quota instead of the mandated 5%.

However, following the university’s affidavit, where it stated that 5% reservation was being provided, the High Court subsequently closed the proceedings.