Explore how specially-abled people can be accommodated in civil services: SC to Centre

The bench said sympathy for disability is one aspect but the practicality of the decision has also to be taken into account

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to examine the possibility of accommodating people with disabilities under different categories in civil services.

A bench of Justices S Abdul Nazeer and V Ramasubramanian said sympathy for disability is one aspect but the practicality of the decision has also to be taken into account.

The court also shared an incident where a person in Chennai with 100 % blindness was appointed as civil judge junior division and the court interpreters got all orders signed by him and was later posted as editor of a Tamil journal.

"You please examine. They may not fit into all categories. Sympathy is one aspect, practicality is another aspect,” the bench said.

At the outset, Attorney General R Venkatramani, appearing for the Centre, submitted that the government was looking into the matter and sought time.

The court said it would hear the matter after eight weeks.

The court had on March 25 permitted people with disabilities to apply for the Indian Police Service (IPS), DANIPS and the Indian Railway Protection Force Service (IRPFS) provisionally as their preferences in the civil services and asked them to submit their application forms in this regard to the UPSC by April 1.

It had passed the order while hearing a plea by the ‘National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled’ challenging the Centre’s August 18, 2021 notification on the ground that it has granted a “blanket exemption” to all categories of posts under the IPS, Delhi, Daman and Diu, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep Police Service (DANIPS) and IRPFS from the purview of reservation required to be provided thereunder.

The plea claimed no information was available in the public domain to be able to discern the rationale for the grant of blanket exemption by the notification.