The High Court of Delhi has directed the Delhi government to carry out a special recruitment drive for filling up vacancies reserved for persons with disabilities (PwDs) in various government departments.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad on Monday directed the concerned departments of the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi to send the requisition to the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) and the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) within a month.
Both the DSSB and the UPSC were further ordered to issue notification advertisements within 30 days thereafter.
The Division Bench took note of the fact that there were 1,351 vacancies available under the Direct Recruitment quota for PwD candidates, including 356 vacant posts for visually-impaired people.
It directed both the DSSSB and UPSC to conduct a written test/interview/process of selection within 30 days from the last date of receipt of applications. It further ordered the departments to complete the process of appointment within 30 days from the date of declaration of result/interview.
Regarding vacancies to be filled through promotion, the Court called for a notification highlighting the eligible candidates for consideration and obtaining of Annual Performance Assessment Report (APAR) or other relevant information in respect of eligible candidates within a period of 45 days from the date of finalisation of the list of eligible candidates.
The order of appointment should be issued within 30 days from the date of DPC/interview, it added.
The Bench passed the order on a public interest litigation petition filed by an organisation named National Federation of the Blind, alleging inaction on part of the government authorities in filling up vacancies reserved for blind and low vision candidates.
It was stated that despite the orders of the Supreme Court, the authorities were not filling up the vacancies and reservation was not being provided to visually-impaired candidates.
The organisation further said that pursuant to a court order, the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (SCPD) had filed a report revealing that 1,351 vacancies were available under the Direct Recruitment quota for PwDs, including 356 vacancies for visually-impaired persons. In the matter of promotion quota, the vacancies available were 852, including 149 vacancies for visually-impaired persons, it added.
The High Court directed the SCPD to continue monitoring this special recruitment drive, besides summoning the vacancy-wise roster from 33 departments/establishments of GNCTD, who have reported ‘NIL’ vacancy position.
The petitioner was represented by Senior Advocate S.K. Rungta (first blind lawyer to become Senior Advocate in the Delhi High Court), along with Advocates Shivakur Shukla, Prashant Singh and Sumit.
Advocate Avnish Ahlawat appeared for the Delhi government, along with Advocates Tania Ahlawat, Nitesh Kumar Singh, Palak Rohmetra, Laavanya Kaushik and Aliza Alam.