NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Union government to respond to a petition that sought reservation in public employment to persons with haemophilia, a blood clotting deficiency.
The petition filed by Prema Ram, a person with haemophilia, argued that such persons face locomotor disability as internal bleeding in joints causes limb deformity, which can become severe in some cases. The petitioner, who has a benchmark disability certified with 50% disability of haemophilia, said that people with the blood disorder were not eligible for reservation in government jobs under the Right to Persons with Disabilities Act.
“We will issue notice,” the bench of justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi, sitting during the partial court working days, said.
Prema Ram had appeared in the Civil Services Examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in May this year. But because people with the blood disorder were not eligible for the quota, he did not tick his eligibility under the ‘persons with disability’ category.
The bench issued notice to the Union government and UPSC, as the petitioner urged the court to direct UPSC to consider him as a disabled candidate.
{{/usCountry}}The bench issued notice to the Union government and UPSC, as the petitioner urged the court to direct UPSC to consider him as a disabled candidate.
{{/usCountry}}Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Jayna Kothari said that haemophilia is linked to locomotor disability as a person having this rare genetic blood disorder cannot walk if there is uncontrolled bleeding in joints.
She pointed out that the petitioner has a valid disability certificate issued in 2018 of having benchmark disability (over 40% disability) with severe haemophilia. Espousing the cause of similarly-situated persons, the petition filed as a public interest litigation, referred to section 34 of the 2016 Act or the RPD Act.
Section 34 of this Act provides for 4% reservation in public employment to persons with benchmark disability under a list of 21 specified disabilities. This does not include haemophilia, the petition said.
The court said, “If you have a locomotor disability, you will get it. We do not see any challenge to this. Reservation can be as per the legislation. You cannot make it equal for everybody.”
Kothari said that haemophilia is included as a ‘specified disability’ under the Schedule of the RPD Act, and the benefit of reservation should apply equally to all persons with benchmark disability.
According to her, under the scope of Section 34, locomotor disability is available only for “cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims and muscular dystrophy.”
The petition pointed out haemophilia is an incurable blood disorder caused by a deficiency in clotting factors, specifically factor VIII (Haemophilia A) or factor IX (Haemophilia B). Bleeding in critical areas like the brain, throat, and abdomen can be life-threatening and treatment for this condition involves high costs and limited availability of treatment. In such a scenario, reservation would stand to benefit these persons in the long run.
“individuals with severe haemophilia (A or B), bearing a ‘benchmark disability’ of 40% or more, do not qualify for reservation benefits under Section 34 despite being covered under the definition of ‘person with benchmark disability’. This contrasts starkly with individuals suffering from other disabilities such as autism and locomotor disabilities, who, with a 40% or greater disability, are entitled to reservations under the same section,” the petition drafted by advocate Rohit Sharma said.