The Supreme Court of India has taken serious note of the exclusion of blind and locomotor-disabled candidates from the Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) quota in the Uttarakhand Judicial Service Examination. The bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan issued a notice to the Uttarakhand Public Service Commission (UKPSC) on July 25, 2025, after a blind candidate filed a writ petition challenging the recruitment norms.
“That's very bad, very bad on the part of the Government.” – Justice JB Pardiwala
The comment came after Advocate Anchala Bhatheja, representing the petitioner, informed the Court that the official advertisement issued on May 16, 2025, excluded blind and locomotor-disabled persons from the PwBD category, limiting the scope only to four subcategories: Leprosy Cured, Acid Attack Victims, Muscular Dystrophy, and another not specified in the plea.
The petitioner, who is 100% visually impaired, argued that the exclusion violates Section 34 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPwD Act), which mandates reservation for a broader set of benchmark disabilities.
Section 34(1)(a) of the RPwD Act clearly provides for one percent reservation each for:
- Blindness and low vision
- Locomotor disability (including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims, muscular dystrophy)
"Limiting the reservation to only few subcategories violates both constitutional and statutory rights." – Petitioner’s Counsel
The plea also points out that the Uttarakhand PSC has not provided any scribe facility for visually impaired candidates, despite formal requests.
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The petition highlights three major legal violations:
- Violation of Fundamental Rights under Articles 14, 19(1)(g), and 21 of the Constitution.
- Contravention of Supreme Court’s earlier ruling in Re: Recruitment of Visually Impaired in Judicial Services v. Registrar General, High Court of Madhya Pradesh, where the Court had ruled that visually impaired persons must be allowed to participate in judicial exams.
- Domicile-based restriction excluding non-Uttarakhand residents from applying under the PwBD category, which the petition calls discriminatory.
The petitioner, assisted by Advocate-on-Record Vikram Hegde, requested the Supreme Court to:
- Quash the Advertisement dated 16.05.2025, insofar as it restricts PwBD eligibility to only a few subtypes and excludes non-domiciled candidates.
- Direct UKPSC to reissue the advertisement, allowing all benchmark disabilities and removing domicile restriction.
- Ensure compliance with previous Supreme Court rulings on visually impaired candidates.
- Undertake fresh identification of suitable posts under the RPwD Act and RPWD Rules, considering modern assistive technologies and reasonable accommodation.
"Visually impaired and low vision candidates are eligible to participate in judicial service exams." – Supreme Court in 2023 Judgment
The Court issued a notice with a dasti returnable in two weeks and warned that if the respondents do not appear, it will pass appropriate orders in the next hearing. The case has been registered as W.P.(C) No. 570/2025; Diary No. 31596 / 2025 – Sravya Sindhuri vs Uttarakhand Public Service Commission.
This case marks an important step in reaffirming the rights of persons with disabilities in government recruitment, especially in high offices like the judiciary.
Case Details: W.P.(C) No. 570/2025 Diary No. 31596 / 2025 SRAVYA SINDHURI Vs UTTARAKHAND PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION