New Delhi: Supreme Court of India directed the government to appoint 11 visually impaired individuals to the income tax department within three months. These candidates had been waiting for appointments since 2009 despite qualifying for the Civil Services Examination (CSE) in 2008.The courts ruling upholds the Persons with Disabilities Act (PWD Act) of 1995, which guarantees employment rights for qualified disabled candidates. Justices Abhay S. Oka and Pankaj Mittal invoked Article 142, granting the court special authority to deliver a swift resolution.This decision comes after the government challenged lower court rulings by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and the Delhi High Court, which previously instructed the government to appoint visually impaired candidates to existing vacancies reserved for persons with disabilities (PWD).Pankaj Kumar Srivastava, who is completely blind, exemplifies the struggle faced by these candidates. He secured a place in the CSE 2008 and expressed his preference for specific services, including the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax). However, despite passing the written exam and interview, he was not appointed.The Supreme Court criticized the governments handling of the situation, highlighting the sorry state of affairs revealed in its affidavits. The court pointed out the governments failure to implement the PWD Act and the unnecessary delays faced by Srivastava, who had been made to run from pillar to post for an appointment despite a significant backlog of unfilled PWD positions.Justice Oka further emphasized the point by referencing the governments supplementary affidavit, which acknowledged a backlog of 41 vacancies between 1996 and 2009 for various disability categories.The courts verdict aligns with the arguments presented by senior advocate A. Mariarputham and counsel Rohan J. Alva, representing the visually impaired candidates. The justices concluded that proper implementation of the PWD Act from the outset would have prevented the unnecessary hardship faced by these individualsAlong the same lines, recently a movie was released on Netflix starring Rajkumar Rao titled Srikanth which is based on the life of Srikanth Bolla, a visually-impaired industrialist and the founder of Bollant Industries who was rejected for higher studies everywhere in India but got admitted in MIT, USA, the most prestigious college of the world.
