New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that visually impaired people are eligible to become judges, striking down a rule of the Madhya Pradesh Judicial Services. A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan said that no candidate can be denied an opportunity to appear for the recruitment in the judicial services on the account of their disability.

“Persons with disabilities should not face any discrimination in judicial services and that affirmative action must be taken by the state to ensure such participation. No candidate can be denied such opportunity on account of disability,” the Supreme Court bench said.

The top court was hearing a petition that challenged Madhya Pradesh Judicial Services Rules (6A), under which visually impaired people were barred from participating in the selection process for appointment to judicial services. The rule was challenged by a woman whose visually impaired son aspired to become a judge but could not appear for the selection process. She wrote a letter to former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, leading to a court-initiated public interest litigation.

Quashing the Madhya Pradesh Judicial Services Rules, the Supreme Court said that any indirect discrimination that results in the exclusion of people with disabilities, either cutoffs or procedural barriers, must be interdicted to maintain fundamental equality.

It added that the accommodation must be provided to the disabled candidates while assessing their eligibility in terms of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.

The Supreme Court had earlier ruled that a visually impaired person can potentially become a judge, even of the Supreme Court. Based on this, visually impaired judges were appointed in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. In 2009, Judge T Chakkaravarthy became the first visually impaired judicial officer in Tamil Nadu.