Supreme Court Passes Directions For Meaningful Chance To Visually Impaired Candidates To Appear In AIBE

The Supreme Court today passed certain directions to give a "meaningful and effective opportunity" to visually impaired people to take the All India Bar Examination, scheduled to be conducted later this month. The directions given to the Bar Council of India (BCI), which holds the exam, include the use of a paid screen reading software at the BCI's cost.

The Court was in the process of hearing a Writ Petition filed by three visually impaired candidates, two of which were aggrieved by the Bar Council of India not responding to their queries about facilities for visually impaired candidates. Two days ago, on December 3, the BCI allowed visually impaired candidates to undertake the exam on a computer, but limited it allowing them to only read the questions, compelling them to use a scribe to mark their answers.

A two-Judge Bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan directed the BCI to allow the use of the paid screen reading software Job Access with Speech suggested by the Petitioners, permit them to use their own keyboards, if not laptops and to answer the questions on computer instead of through a scribe. The Bench also directed that all exercises required to set up the system for undertaking the exam shall be completed one day prior to the exam, instead of the two hours that the BCI prescribed in its circular.

After the Bench had dictated the Order, Advocate Rahul Bajaj, appearing for the Petitioners, asked the Bench to clarify that candidates may be allowed to use the screen reading software of their choice, since all may not be able to afford the paid software proposed by him. "We will say 'at the cost of BCI'," Justice Surya Kant suggested. The BCI counsel protested, but Justice Kant was not inclined to hear any argument on the lack of funds. He reasoned, "Ultimately, where do you get funds from? From lawyers only... Whatver you spend, you will recover." 

Earlier in the hearing, Justice Kant said, “There is no dearth of money. It is overflowing, the Bar Council of India. They are looking for excuses not to spend money. We know it as a matter of fact. Whatever he is asking, you provide it immediately within two days.”

Rahul Bajaj clarified that the BCI had already acceded to their request for soft copies of Bare Acts to be provided to visually impaired candidates. The BCI, since 2021, has allowed the use of Bare Acts during the AIBE.

On the mandate of allowing the marking of answers only through a scribe, the Petitioners argue that marking answers themselves gives them more control over their answers and eliminates the the possibility of errors that may be committed by the scribe. "We want to be doing it independently," Rahul Bajaj stressed.

An August 2018 circular by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment titled ‘Guidelines for conducting written examination for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities’ was cited by the Petitioners. These guidelines state that in case a person with benchmark disability is allowed to take examination on computer system, they should he allowed to check the computer system one day in advance so that the problems, if any in the software or system could be rectified.

The guidelines add, “Use of own computer or laptop should not be allowed for taking examination. However, enabling accessories for the computer based examinations such as keyboard, customised mouse etc. should be allowed." The Court took note of these guidelines in passing its Order today.

Cause Title: Yash Dodani v. Union of India [W.P.(C) 785/2024]