'Art Is Non-Conformist' : Supreme Court Directs FTII To Accommodate Colour Blind Candidates In All Courses

The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, directed the Film and Television Institute of India(FTII) to induct individuals with colour blindness in all courses offered by them by making accommodation in its curriculum. The direction is also applicable to other film institutes following similar curriculum as FTII. A Bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M.M. Sundresh further directed FTII to exclude colour grading modules in its diploma and film editing course or to make it an elective as suggested by the Committed appointed by it to look into the issue. Endorsing the majority view of the 7-member Committee, which was earlier appointed by the Court to examine the issue, the Bench noted - "The conclusion shows a clear recommendation that all individuals will be allowed for all courses at FTII. Any limitation can be overcome. FTII should make accommodation in its curriculum for candidates with colour blindness and the colour grading module in existing diploma and film editing course curriculum should be excluded or made elective." The Bench endorsed the majority view of the committee as under - "Thus, we are of the opinion that the same is to be adopted by FTII in its curriculum….Other schools guided by similar curriculum are required to adhere to the discussion on this subject which forms the conclusion of the Committee." The appellant had applied for the Diploma in Film Editing course for the admission to session 2015 and met all the requirements therein for admission to a three year post graduate diploma course in editing. After selection, when he was examined by the doctor ,he was found to be colour blind. The FTII cancelled his admission based on the report of the examination as the FTII Entrance Examination Rules barred colour blind students from being admitted in the institute for editing course. The sheet anchor of the matter was whether a person with colour blindness is precluded from pursuing a course in Diploma in editing in FTII. The Committee had submitted the report. It was taken note of that Mr K. Rajashekharan, HoD editing FTII had dissented from the majority opinion of the Committee. On perusal of the majority opinion of the Court- appointed Committee and hearing the counsels, the Bench remarked - "Art is non-conformist in character. The respondent institute is a premier institute and one would expect it to encourage liberal thought process and not put courses connected with films in any conformist box." It noted that colour blindness is not a form of blindness but a deficiency; it is a medical condition which makes it difficult to distinguish between colours. From the report, the Bench observed - "…estimated 8% of male population and less than 1% female population have red and green colour deficiency being the most common form of colour-blindness." Allow colour blind students to pursue all film courses : CommitteeThe Committee noted that the appellant had been examined by the institutes' doctor and not an expert ophthalmologist to ascertain the nature and extent of colour blindness at the time of admission. In view of the application filed by the appellant, by its order dated 08.03.2022 the Court had directed Director of AIIMS to form a Committee of expert to look into the same. The Committee examined the bar to FTII courses for colour blind students in terms of the curriculum, modules and the occupational roles. The Committee was of the opinion that colour blind candidates should be allowed to pursue all course offered by FTII - "As per 2020 FTII prospectus individuals with colour-blindness are ineligible to be enrolled in certain courses. It is the view of the committee that individuals with colour blindness should be permitted to be enrolled for all courses offered by FTII. Reasoning which permeates the findings of the Committees is that film and television creation are collaborative artforms. Restricting colour blind candidates to film courses may sacrifice creative talent and stultify the development of the art. Inclusivity enriches this creative artform by introducing variety." It was suggested that reasonable accommodation is to be made by FTII to take care of the concerns of the candidate who suffer from colour blindness. "It is not the role of FTII to decide the future prospect of the candidates as a film/TV professional. If learning limitations can be overcome by making reasonable accommodation with the help of an assistant. Editing is an art, technique and practice of assembling shorts into a coherent sequence and the job of an editor is not to mechanically put piece of a film together…a film editor works with layer of images, story, dialogues… to reimagine or rewrite the film in a cohesive manner." Colour reading not an integral part of editor's work : CommitteeThe Committed noted that colour reading is not integral to the work of an editor and there are colourists who are employed to enhance colour or correct it. The editor, it opined, it only deals black and...

'Art Is Non-Conformist' : Supreme Court Directs FTII To Accommodate Colour Blind Candidates In All Courses

Sohini Chowdhury

"The respondent institute is a premier institute and one would expect it to encourage liberal thought process and not put courses connected with films in any conformist box", the Court observed.

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