HC cancels Kendriya Vidyalaya’s teacher recruitment ad over disability quota

The court said that PwDs were not claiming any charity, but their rights, which are guaranteed under the Reservation of Persons with Disability Act (RPwD Act)

The Delhi high court on Wednesday quashed an advertisement issued by the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) that excluded deaf and hearing impaired persons from reservation in recruitment for the post of primary teachers, adding that though legislature envisioned to provide reasonable accommodation to enable PwDs (person with disabilities) to perform to the best of their ability, the organisation looked down upon them from the lens of inconvenience.

The Delhi High Court. (Representative photo)

Criticising KVS for its obliviousness to reserve posts for the deaf, the court said that PwDs were not claiming any charity, but their rights, which are guaranteed under the Reservation of Persons with Disability Act (RPwD Act)

A bench comprising chief justice Satish Chandra Sharma and justice Sanjeev Narula said the task of identification and exemption of posts falls within the domain of the appropriate government department and thus directed KVS to initiate a drive for special recruitment to fill the vacancies reserved for deaf and hard of hearing persons and complete the same within three months.

Taking note of the mismatch in the understanding of different departments regarding the mandate under RPwD Act, the court also directed the secretary, ministry of social justice and empowerment to issue suitable guidelines for uniform application of the reservation policy for PwDs.

Amicus curiae, senior advocate Dayanan Krishnan submitted that although a total of 6414 posts were advertised but 97 seats were reserved for the orthopedically handicapped and 96 posts were reserved for applicants who were visually handicapped but no post was reserved for hearing handicapped persons. He also submitted that section 34 of the RPwD Act mandated that every government establishment to reserve four percent seats for PwDs adding that out of the 4%, PwDs under three categories (Blindness and low vision, Deaf and hard of hearing, Locomotor disability, including cerebral palsy, leprosy-cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims and muscular dystrophy) are entitled to one percent reservation.

The Centre appearing through advocate Kirtiman Singh submitted that KVS could not exclude posts identified for PwDs by constituting its own committee.

KVS’ advocate S Rajappa submitted that the process of recruitment was already over and quashing the advertisements would mean discontinuing the services of the persons who have been duly selected for the post.

Notably, the same bench had recently termed as unsustainable the same advertisement issued by KVS that had also excluded reservation for blind persons from the principal’s post. The court had observed that every act of exclusion having the effect of compelling PwDs out of a race for gaining employment without their fault is an assault on their dignity.