Seeing Is Not Merely Visual, Blind Candidate Can't Be Disqualified From Recruitment If Able To Perceive & Discharge Duties: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has ruled that a blind candidate can't be ousted from recruitment for a job post if he is able to perceive and discharge required duties.Moreso, a division bench of Justices C. Hari Shankar and Ajay Digpaul ruled, when the Committee constituted under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 has identified the said post as one which can be filled by a blind/ low vision candidate.The landmark ruling comes in a batch of petitions filed against the Airport Authority of India for disqualifying blind candidates from the post of Junior Executive (Law).Significant to note that two vacancies were reserved for blind persons or those who suffer from low vision.The Petitioners were however disqualified citing their inability to meet the 'functional requirement' of “seeing”.Petitioner's counsel senior advocate SK Rungta, who himself lost sight at the age of one, submitted that once the post was identified as suitable for blind candidates as well as candidates suffering from low vision, there could be no justification for excluding them.Counsel appearing for AAI however submitted that assessment of whether a candidate is suitable to man a particular post, given the functional requirements of that post, is essentially a matter within the discretion of the appointing authority.It was further argued that the principle of “reasonable accommodation” cannot be blindly applied and efficiency in performing the assigned functions of the post is also a cardinal consideration. Ruling in favour of the Petitioners, the High Court held that the assessment of functional requirement vis-à-vis the suitability of a disabled candidate has to be expansive, not myopic. It observed,“The eye is a sense organ. It processes no power of cognition or discernment. The power of cognition, discernment and understanding, therefore, vests in the brain, not in the eye…In assessing the satisfaction, or otherwise, of the “functional requirement of seeing”, therefore, this basic physiological reality has to be borne in mind by the respondents. The concept of “seeing”, inasmuch as it is stipulated, in the DEPWD Notification as well as in the Advertisement, as a functional attribute, cannot be restricted to the ocular functionality of the eye. If, therefore, despite not being possessed of the ocular ability which enables the recording of images on the retinal wall of the eye, a candidate is nonetheless able to perceive what is before him, to the extent it is necessary to discharge the function of JE (Law), he has to be regarded as being possessed of the functional attribute of “sight”.”The Court noted that the Advertisement for recruitment as well as a notification issued by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities had identified blindness as well as low vision as disabilities which would qualify for recruitment to the post of JE (Law).The hurdle in the path of the petitioners was however created by a further stipulation that the candidate, in order to be eligible, has to satisfy the functional requirement of seeing.“Can the blind see? Law, however, has a habit of complicating the simplest of issues,” the Court remarked in its prologue.It noted that the RPWD Act does not contain any provision which entitles the administration to stipulate “functional requirements” for posts which already stand identified as being suitable for being filled by persons possessing particular categories of disabilities. Thus, it held that stipulation of functional requirement has to take place at the stage of identification of the posts by the statutory Committee. It observed,“There can be no cavil with the proposition that every post has functional requirements. The question is the stage at which this restriction can be imposed. Ordinarily, it is clear that the restriction has to be imposed at the stage of identification of the posts which are suitable to be filled by candidates with particular disabilities. The Committee constituted under the said provision, if it feels that drivers must be able to see, cannot identify the post of a driver as one which can be filled by a blind person – or, indeed, even by a person with low vision. The controversy would, then, end there, as a blind candidate, or candidate with low vision, would not apply for recruitment as a driver.”If, however, the Court added, the Committee identifies a particular post as one which can be filled by persons having a particular disability, “it logically follows that the Committee has kept in mind the physical attributes of the candidates who possess that disability, and has consciously regarded them as suitable for performing the functions which the post entails.”The Court also held that assessment of suitability for appointment of disabled candidates has to take place in an “enabling atmosphere”, providing the necessary aids and assistive devices, and keeping in mind the duties to be discharged by the incumbent. Additionally, the Court said that guidelines issued...

Seeing Is Not Merely Visual, Blind Candidate Can't Be Disqualified From Recruitment If Able To Perceive & Discharge Duties: Delhi High Court

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