Delhi HC asks Central govt to apprise it of vacancies for visually challenged persons in UPSC exam

The Delhi High Court on Saturday asked the Central government to apprise it of the exact number of vacancies for the visually challenged persons in civil service examination.

A bench of justices S Muralidhar and Talwant Singh have directed the government to give details regarding the backlog vacancies for the persons with disabilities, particularly those who are visually impaired, from 1996 onwards.

The court passed the order on a batch of petitions while examining the alleged discrepancies in the vacancies for visually challenged persons in civil services exams, conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

The court issued the directions, noting that there were two charts regarding the exact number of vacancies; one obtained through the Right to Information Act and relied upon advocate Rajanish Kumar Jha, representing one of the petitioners; the other one filed by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

According to Jha, the petitions were filed by the candidates who would have been appointed had the Centre done the proper implementation of reservation for visually impaired persons as per Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.

"There is a huge backlog of vacancies from 1996 onwards that is required to be filled up by eligible candidates who happen to be visually challenged," the petitions said.

The Centre, however, denied the allegations and filed a separate list of vacancies, claiming that the appointments were made accordingly.

The court will further hear the matter on November 5.