SC| 40-50% disability limit for the post of Civil Judge is logical considering the nature of the job

Supreme Court: The bench of Ashok Bhushan and KM Joseph, JJ held that prescription of disability to the extent of 40%-50% for recruitment for the post of Civil Judge was valid and did not contravene any of the provisions of Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 or any other statutory provision.

It was dealing with a matter where an advocate having 70% disability, had challenged a Notification dated 08.08.2014 issued by Tamil Nadu Government stipulating a limit of 40%-50% disability for the selection for the post of Civil judge.

The Court said:

“A judicial officer in a State has to possess reasonable limit of the faculties of hearing, sight and speech in order to hear cases and write judgments and, therefore, stipulating a limit of 50% disability in hearing impairment or visual impairment as a condition to be eligible for the post is a legitimate restriction i.e. fair, logical and reasonable.”

The appellant had submitted that restricting the disability to 40%-50% in reference to persons having partial blindness is clearly denying the of reservation as provided under Section 33 of the 1995 Act, 1995. Section 33 of the 1995 Act requires that every appropriate Government shall appoint in every establishment such percentage of vacancies not less than three per cent for persons or class of persons with disability of which one per cent each shall be reserved for persons suffering from Blindness or low vision.

Disagreeing with the said contention, the Court said:

“The present is not a case where the respondent has not reserved the post for partial disability as required by Section 33 of the Act, 1995. Thus, requirement of reservation as mandated by Section 33 is clearly fulfilled. The issue is regarding eligibility of appellant to participate in the selection and as to whether the requirement in the advertisement that only those, who suffer from disability of 40%-50% are eligible, is contrary to the Act, 1995 or is in breach of any statutory provision.”

It was, hence, noticed that when the State, High Court and Public Service Commission are of the view that disability, which is suitable for appointment on the post of Civil Judge should be between 40%-50%, the said prescription does not violate any statutory provision nor contravene any of the provisions of the 1995 Act. Hence, it was well within the power of appointing authority to prescribe eligibility looking to the nature of the job, which is to be performed by holder of a post. [V. Surendra Mohan v. State of Tamil Nadu, 2019 SCC OnLine SC 53, decided on 22.01.2019]