The High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad, it would appear, has made amends for a discrepancy in the court’s own reservation policy, albeit temporarily..A few weeks ago, Arepalli Naga Babu, a visually impaired lawyer and aspiring judge based in Hyderabad, had filed a petition in the High Court challenging Rule 7 of the Andhra Pradesh State Judicial Service Rules of 2007. A 2011 IDIA scholar, Naga hails from Machlipatnam in Andhra Pradesh..The Rule provides that only one per cent of posts would be reserved for persons with disabilities. More specifically, this one per cent is reserved only for those who are “Orthopedically Handicapped (lower portion of the body)”. A notification issued by the High Court in August, for appointment of Civil Judge (Junior Division), reiterates this fact..However, this Rule is contrary to Section 33 of the Disabilities Act, under which the appropriate government is required to reserve 3% of the seats for persons with disabilities..The Act also provides that 1% of the seats shall be reserved for:.Blindness or low vision;Hearing impairment;Loco motor disability or cerebral palsy.To make matters worse, when Naga had gone to submit his application for the exam, he was told that he would not be allowed to write the exam on account of being visually impaired. This prompted Naga to file a writ petition challenging the Rule and the subsequent notification..Vivek Reddy appeared for Naga, along with Mithun Shashank, before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice A Shankar Narayana. In an order dated November 14, the Bench issued a show cause notice to the High Court Registrar, who is required to file a counter-affidavit within four weeks..Although no order was made as regards the constitutionality of the impugned Rule, the Bench directed the High Court to receive Naga’s application and to allow him to appear for a screening test later this month. The court also granted Naga the assistance of a scribe and additional time of twenty minutes for every one hour of the examination..The matter is now listed for December 12..View Naga’s inspiring journey here..Read the order:
The High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad, it would appear, has made amends for a discrepancy in the court’s own reservation policy, albeit temporarily..A few weeks ago, Arepalli Naga Babu, a visually impaired lawyer and aspiring judge based in Hyderabad, had filed a petition in the High Court challenging Rule 7 of the Andhra Pradesh State Judicial Service Rules of 2007. A 2011 IDIA scholar, Naga hails from Machlipatnam in Andhra Pradesh..The Rule provides that only one per cent of posts would be reserved for persons with disabilities. More specifically, this one per cent is reserved only for those who are “Orthopedically Handicapped (lower portion of the body)”. A notification issued by the High Court in August, for appointment of Civil Judge (Junior Division), reiterates this fact..However, this Rule is contrary to Section 33 of the Disabilities Act, under which the appropriate government is required to reserve 3% of the seats for persons with disabilities..The Act also provides that 1% of the seats shall be reserved for:.Blindness or low vision;Hearing impairment;Loco motor disability or cerebral palsy.To make matters worse, when Naga had gone to submit his application for the exam, he was told that he would not be allowed to write the exam on account of being visually impaired. This prompted Naga to file a writ petition challenging the Rule and the subsequent notification..Vivek Reddy appeared for Naga, along with Mithun Shashank, before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice A Shankar Narayana. In an order dated November 14, the Bench issued a show cause notice to the High Court Registrar, who is required to file a counter-affidavit within four weeks..Although no order was made as regards the constitutionality of the impugned Rule, the Bench directed the High Court to receive Naga’s application and to allow him to appear for a screening test later this month. The court also granted Naga the assistance of a scribe and additional time of twenty minutes for every one hour of the examination..The matter is now listed for December 12..View Naga’s inspiring journey here..Read the order:
