Constitutional Court Must Understand Barriers Faced Daily By Persons With Disabilities; Must Strive To Remove These Barriers Through Rulings: Madras HC
The Madras High Court has observed that constitutional courts must develop an understanding of the barriers encountered by people with disabilities and strive to remove them through their rulings.
The Court directed the Tamil Nadu Housing Board (Board) to exempt the petitioner, a 100% hearing and speech-impaired Assistant Engineer, from the mandatory Tamil Language Test, pointing out his disability as grounds for reasonable accommodation. The Court directed the Board to restore all pending increments and attendant benefits withheld due to the absence of a Tamil Language Test certificate.
A Single Bench of Justice N. Anand Venkatesh observed, “The barriers faced by persons with disabilities go beyond just physical accessibility issues, extending to deep rooted prejudice, stereo types and misconcepts that pervaded many aspects of the society. From education and employment to health care and public services, persons with disabilities often face significant obstinance that hinder their full participation and inclusion. In view of the same, a Constitutional Court must develop an understanding of the Societal, Attitudinal, Cultural, Institutional, Structural, Legal and Environmental barriers that persons with disabilities encounter daily. The Constitutional Court must strive to remove these barriers through their Rulings.”
Advocate D. Muthukumar appeared for the petitioner, while Special Government Pleader P. Balathandayutham represented the respondents.
The petitioner was working with the Board since 2014. However, having done his schooling in English, he was required to pass a Tamil language test for the post. Over the years, he requested an exemption from this requirement due to his impairment, arguing that completing the test, particularly the Viva Voce component, was ‘next to impossible’ given his condition.
The High Court had to determine whether the petitioner should be granted an exemption from the Tamil language test. Acknowledging the petitioner’s full hearing and speech impairment, the Court observed, “The case in hand depicts the sorry state of affairs that prevails in the society while dealing with differently abled persons. The fact that the petitioner who is 100% hearing and speech impairment right from his young age was able to complete the School Education and also the Engineering course, shows the amount of grit and determination on the part of the petitioner to remain in the mainstream of the society.”
The Court referred to the Supreme Court’s decision in Vikash Kumar v. Union Public Service Commission (2021) wherein it was held that the “failure to provide reasonable accommodation to persons suffering from peculiar disability will result in a clear discrimination shown against them” and the same has to be rectified by a Constitutional Court.
“The petitioner after a long struggle has entered the services of the Housing Board and he has been working for the last 10 years. If he is now shown the door, he will be virtually left in the streets without any employment considering the disability suffered by him. Therefore, the case in hand is one such deserving case where such exemption can be granted to the petitioner,” the Bench noted.
Consequently, the Court held, “In the light of the above discussion, this Court wants to exercise its extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India and accordingly, there shall be a direction to the respondent Board to grant exemption to the petitioner to clear the Tamil Language Test and to produce the certificate.”
Accordingly, the High Court allowed the petition.
Cause Title: B. Vidyasagar v. The Government of Tamil Nadu & Ors. (Neutral Citation:2024:MHC:3641)
Appearance:
Petitioner: Advocate D. Muthukumar
Respondents: Special Government Pleader P. Balathandayutham; Standing Counsels V. Logesh and R. Bharanidharan