LexDEAF EMPLOYEES WELFARE ASSOCIATION & ANOTHER versus UNION OF INDIA & OTHERS
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this caseJudgment (excerpt)
[2013] 16 S.C.R. 1059
DEAF EMPLOYEES WELFARE ASSOCIATION &
A
ANOTHER
v.
UNION OF INDIA & OTHERS
(Writ Petition (Civil) No. 107 of 2011)
DECEMBER 12, 2013
B
[K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN AND A.K. SIKRI, JJ.]
Constitution of India, 1950 - Articles 14 and 21 -
Conveyan_ce allowance, paid to disabled Government C
employees (visually and orthopaedically disabled) - Demand
of, by deaf and dumb Government employees - Denial by
the Government - Held: Is violative of Articles 14 and 21 - A
person having any of the disabilities mentioned in s. 2(i) of
Disabilities Act, entitled to benefit of all the Schemes and
D
benefits provided by the Government -
There cannot be
further discrimination among the persons with varied or
different types of disabilities - Persons with Disabilities (Equal
Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act,
1995
E
Present writ petition was filed by the Associations,
representing the Deaf and Dumb persons, seeking writ
of Mandamus directing the Central and State
Governments to grant transport allowance to its
Government employees suffering from hearing
impairment, at par with what was being given to the
visually and orthopedically handicapped Government
employees and also for consequential reliefs.
Allowing the petition, the Court
HELD: 1. Plea made by the deaf and dumb persons
fell into deaf ears, while their claim has to be considered
in a dispassionate manner with a human touch,
1059
F
G
H
1060
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2013] 16 S.C.R.
A especially in the wake of the Disabilities Act and on the
basis of the various international Conventions, to which
India is a party. The Economic and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in a meeting in
December 1992 in Beijing, declared the period 1993-2000
s as the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons.
India is a signatory to the above mentioned Convention.
Being a signatory to that Convention, it was obligatory
on the part of India to enact a suitable legislation to give
effect to the Convention. Accordingly, the Disabilities Act,
c 1995 was enacted. India is also a signatory to the "UN
Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights
and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities", 2008. [Paras 9
and 1 OJ [1068-G-H; 1069-A-D]
2. The Disabilities Act states that the "persons with
D disabilities" means persons suffering from not less than
40% of "any disability", as certified by the medical doctor.
When a person is having any of the disabilities mentioned
in Section 2(i) and is so certified by the Medical Doctor,
he is entitled to the benefits of all the Schemes and
E benefits provided by the Government and there can be
no further discrimination among the persons with varied
or different types of disabilities. In the matter of affirmative
action, there cannot be further discrimination between a
person with disability of 'blindness' and a person with
F disability of 'hearing impairment'. Such discrimination has
not been envisaged under the Disabilities Act. All the
categories of persons mentioned in Section 2(i) have
their own disadvantages, peculiar to themselves. [Para
18] [1074-G-H; 1075-A-B]
G
H
3. Ministry of Finance, Government of India, took the
view that a visually impaired person cannot be equated
with hearing impaired person since persons who are deaf
and dumb are not physically dependent on others for
commuting from one place to another, hence they are not
DEAF EMPLOYEES WELFARE ASSOCIATION. v.
1061
UNION OF INDIA
entitled to double rate of transport allowance. The view
A
expressed by the Ministry of Finance, in spite of the
recommendations made by the Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare, for not providing transport allowance to
its Government employees suffering from hearing
impairment, cannot be sustained. The travel undertaken
by the deaf and hearing impaired employees is equally
arduous and burdensome as compared to persons
having other disabilities referred to in Section 2{i) of the
Act. Hearing impaired persons cannot communicate with
8
the bus conductors, auto and taxi drivers as a normal c
person can do. Invariably, they have to seek the
assistance of a stranger. Time and effort required to reach
a destination is considerably more as compared to
normal persons. A hearing impaired person sometimes
may end up spending more money in travelling as
0
compared to normal persons. Therefore, it cannot be said
that disability, aExcerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.