Candidate Meeting Notified Disability Criteria Cannot Be Disqualified For Having Additional Learning Disability: Bombay High Court
The Bombay High Court has held that a candidate who meets the notified disability criteria for the post of Officer Grade 'B' cannot be held ineligible merely because he additionally has a learning disability.
A Division Bench comprising Justice G. S. Kulkarni and Justice Aarti A. Sathe was hearing a writ petition filed challenging the Reserve Bank of India's rejection of the petitioner's candidature for the post of Officer in Grade B (DR)-General. The petitioner contended that the rejection is based on the erroneous premise that while the petitioner meets the disability criteria as notified, the presence of another disability renders him unsuitable, despite his proven academic and professional track record.
The Court noted that the only contention of the RBI is that it is bound by the directives of the Government of India in its notification dated 4 January, 2021, which does not include the learning disability to be one of the criteria, and this makes the petitioner ineligible.
Expressing its disagreement with the RBI's contention, the Court observed:
“… the petitioner additionally having a learning disability, in our opinion, certainly cannot be considered to be any ineligibility in the context of the eligibility criteria (supra) as prescribed, which includes Mental illness as also Multiple Disabilities involving combination of aspects in the criteria specified in (a) to (d) in the said eligibility criteria.”
The Court also referred to its earlier interim order, whereby it had held that the petitioner should not be disqualified on the ground that he had an additional learning disability and had permitted him to appear for the interview. It noted that the petitioner had thereafter appeared for the interview, although his appointment had been kept in abeyance.
The Court held that if the additional learning disability was the only ground for holding him ineligible, the petitioner met the eligibility criteria specified by the Government of India and could not have been disqualified on that ground.
The Court accordingly allowed the petition and directed the Reserve Bank of India to issue an appointment order in favour of the petitioner.
Case Title: Shritij Mohan Shrivastava v. The Reserve Bank of India [Writ Petition (L) No. 7619 of 2026]