The West Bengal Public Service Commission has recently excluded candidates with blindness and cerebral palsy from the scope of disability reservation for the State Judicial Service Examination in 2022.
This year’s exam notification refers to a 2007 notification that exempted candidates with blindness and cerebral palsy from judicial service.
The 2007 notification justified the exclusion of such candidates from the scope of reservation by stating:
“AND WHEREAS judicial mind is required to be applied with by the judicial officers before any cases are disposed off by them;
AND WHEREAS any commission of omission on the part of the judicial officers on account of disability with blindness and cerebral palsy may hinder dispensation of justice to the litigant parties…”
According to the notification, such candidates were exempted from the purview of reservation as contemplated by Section 33 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights, and Full Participation) Act, 1995.
The notification from 2007 is based on the 1995 Act, which has since been superseded by the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. Reservations for people with benchmark disabilities are required by law under Section 34 of the 2016 Act. The Act defines benchmark disabilities as blindness or low vision, as well as locomotor disability, including cerebral palsy.
The Apex Court ruled in Vikash Kumar v. Union of India that denying reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities constituted discrimination. In that case, the Central Government’s Civil Services Examination Rules, 2018, which limited the use of a scribe to those with benchmark disabilities, were being challenged. The Court had ruled that even someone suffering from writer’s cramp who did not have a benchmark disability was entitled to a scribe.
In Union of India & Anr vs National Federation Of The Blind, the apex court had held,
“Employment is a critical factor in the empowerment and inclusion of people with disabilities. It is an alarming reality that disabled people are out of work not because their disability interferes with their functioning, but because social and practical barriers prevent them from joining the workforce…”
The preliminary exam, which is scheduled for March 2023, exempts blind candidates taking the West Bengal judiciary examination from receiving the benefits of vacancy reservation. They will also be denied the use of a scribe or compensatory time for the exam.
