Can guidelines governing reasonable accommodation for candidates with disabilities be frozen for the future?
Coram: Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud; Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha; J B Pardiwala
No. The nature and contents of the Guidelines cannot be frozen for the future. The examination body is at liberty to modify them bearing in mind the exigencies of the situation and the constantly evolving nature of the knowledge and experience gained in conducting the examination.
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 — s.2(r) — s.2(s) — Constitution of India — Art.32 — Reasonable accommodation — Scribe — Entrance examination — Guidelines — Notification in advance — Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 — Reasonable accommodation — Guidelines to be notified with the advertisement — Held: Guidelines governing the facilities to be extended to PwD candidates must be notified sufficiently in advance and, in any event, together with the advertisement placing the examination schedule in the public domain, so that candidates are not left in a state of uncertainty. (¶17) Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 — s.2(s) — Scribe where disability is below the benchmark — Held further: A candidate with a specified disability who has difficulty in writing is entitled to the facility of a scribe and compensatory time on production of a certificate from the competent medical authority of a Government healthcare institution. (¶10) Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 — Qualification of the scribe — integrity of the examination — Held further: An examination body may require that the scribe be not qualified above the 11th standard and not be affiliated to any test-preparatory organisation or examination coaching centre, where it undertakes to provide such a scribe itself. (¶25, 27) Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 — Guidelines not frozen — liberty to modify — Held further: The nature and contents of such Guidelines cannot be frozen for the future and remain open to modification as experience is gained in conducting the examination. Writ Petition and Miscellaneous Application disposed of. (¶28, 29)
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