Supreme Court asks Chief Secretaries of States/UTs to appoint senior official to monitor compliance with RPwD Act

In an IPR seeking enforcement of the provisions of Act on the Rights of Persons with Disabilitiesthe Supreme Court recently called on the non-compliant States/Union Territories to file their response/affidavits by February 2025 on further steps taken to comply with the provisions of the Act.

A bench of Judges Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti further asked the General Secretary of each State/UT to appoint a senior official who would oversee the process of compliance with the provisions.

When placing the order, a table registered by was taken into account Lawyer Manali Singhal (for the petitioner), indicating that some States/UTs are not complying with the provisions of the Act. According to this diagram, the States/UTs of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Odisha, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have fully complied with the provisions of the Act.

For the states/UTs not adhering to the rules, the respective counsels (except Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and J&K) assured that necessary steps would be taken for full compliance.

Background

The petition was filed by ‘Justice Sunanda Bhandare Foundation’, a charity, seeking the following relief:

i. implementation of the provisions of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (replaced by the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016);

ii. direction for the reservation of 1% of the identified teaching posts in faculties and colleges of various universities in terms of Article 33 of the 1995 Act, and

iii. declaration that denying appointment to visually impaired persons in faculties and colleges of various universities to identified posts is violative of their fundamental rights guaranteed by Articles 14 and 15 read with Article 41 of the Constitution of India.

In 2014, the Court found that the 1995 Act had to be implemented in letter and spirit. Accordingly, it issued instructions to the Central Government, State Governments and Union Territories to implement the provisions of the Act.

Subsequently, on March 6, 2020, the Court directed all state governments to submit their compliance affidavits. While some states have submitted their responses, others have not. By January 2024, the non-compliant states/UTs were datum 8 weeks to do what is necessary.

Case Title: JUSTICE SUNANDA BHANDARE FOUNDATION v. UOI, WP(C) No. 116/1998