HC comes to the rescue of a 100% blind woman who was denied govt job

The Bombay high court ordered the MPSC to recommend a blind woman for a government job after she was unfairly excluded due to an application error.

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has come to the rescue of a 44-year-old blind woman who was denied a government job because of a mistake in her application. The court directed the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) to recommend her name for the first available post for 100% visually impaired candidates.

Lady Justice is usually represented as blindfolded and holding a set of scales

The division bench of justices MS Karnik and NR Borkar held that as per the Persons with Disabilities (PWD) Act the state government is obliged to provide additional support to persons with disabilities to facilitate their participation in society.

The petitioner, Shabana Pinjari, 41, had approached the court challenging her exclusion from the provisional select list prepared by MPSC on April 16 for the posts of clerk-cum-typist in various state establishments. She complained that the names of at least 39 lesser meritorious candidates than her from the visual impairment category had been included in the list, and said that her exclusion went against the PWD Act. She told the court that she was denied a fair opportunity and was compelled to opt for an unreserved post meant for open category candidates.

Having heard Pinjari’s arguments, the bench noted that she had earlier filed a petition complaining about a mistake made while filling her form on April 8. Based on her petition, the court had ordered the MPSC to allow her to change her preference concerning posts offered to visually impaired candidates.

The court noted that accordingly MPSC gave her an opportunity to change her preference, but instead of allowing her to benefit from all the options, she was only allowed to opt for the unreserved post of a clerk-cum-typist. The post was at the Maharashtra Rajya Hindi, Sindhi, Gujrati Sahitya Academy, a state-run establishment.

The court said that the MPSC should have adopted a proactive approach in assisting the petitioner by giving her options of all posts meant for visually impaired candidates. “By opening a preference of only one post, which was available for the unreserved category, the MPSC has virtually defeated the object for which Disabilities Act has been brought into force,” the bench said.