No Embargo Under RPwD Act On Grant Of “Total Support” To Persons With Disabilities; Absence Of Rules No Bar: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has observed that there is no legal embargo under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPwD Act) on granting “total support” to a person with disability requiring such assistance, and that the absence of framed rules cannot be a ground to refuse exercise of statutory powers.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav made the observation while dealing with a plea filed by a woman seeking directions regarding acceptance of medical reports of her 78-year-old husband, who suffers from advanced vascular dementia, irreversible Alzheimer's disease, and other severe neurological conditions rendering him fully dependent and wheelchair-bound.

Petitioner had challenged the insistence of the Principal District & Sessions Judge at Saket Courts on submission of periodic medical reports only from the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS), requiring physical production of the patient.

It was argued that such insistence was medically unsafe given the patient's fragile condition.

The High Court noted that the petitioner had already been appointed as guardian under Section 14 of the RPwD Act and had been regularly submitting medical reports. It also took into account that the patient had earlier been declared unfit to stand trial and granted permanent exemption from personal appearance by a Special CBI Court.

In this backdrop, the Court examined Section 14 of the RPwD Act which deals with guardianship and indicate that the District Court or the designated authority as the case may be, may grant total support to the person with disability acquiring such support or where the limited guardianship is to be granted repeatedly in which case the decision regarding the support to be provided shall be reviewed by the Court or the designated authority as the case may be to determine the nature and manner of support to be provided.

“It is, thus, seen that there is no embargo under the provisions of the RWPD Act to consider granting total support to the person with disability requiring such support. The absence of the rules would not be the sole factor for the concerned authority, not to exercise the statutory power,” the Court said.

As such, the Court permitted the petitioner to approach the concerned District Judge for authorization of “total support” for the patient and directed that the insistence on IHBAS reports shall stand dispensed with, and reports issued by the patient's treating doctor would suffice until a final decision is taken by the District Judge.

Appearance: Mr. Tushar Agarwal and Mr. Arun Kumar, Advs for Petitioner; Mr. Sameer Vashisht, SC for GNCTD with Mr. Aryaman Vachher, Adv. R-3 in person for Respondents

Case title: Gurpreet Kaur Maini v. GNCTD

Case no.: W.P.(C) 5294/2026

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