Quota for disabled persons; SC seeks response from Bihar, BPSC

The Supreme Court today sought responses from Bihar government and the BPSC on a plea seeking quashing of an advertisement for filling up 3,364 posts of Assistant Professors in various universities on the ground that it denied 3 per cent mandatory quota to disabled persons.
"Issue notice. Returnable in seven days," a bench of justices Vikramajit Sen and Prafulla C Pant said.
The bench, however, observed that the plea could have been filed before the Patna High Court.
The court issued the notice on the petition filed by NGO 'Society for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies' through its President G N Karna.

It has been alleged the state government and Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) have not complied with the provisions of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act and the previous judgement of the apex court which had said that three per cent reservation has to be provided to disabled persons.
The plea has sought quashing of the "impugned advertisement" which was issued on September 13, by the BPSC on the ground that "it denies 3 per cent reservation to the persons with disabilities" and is violative of fundamental rights.

"Though reservation to SC/ST/EBC/BC/BCL has been provided for in the advertisement, no reservation has been given in favour of the persons with disabilities," the petition said.

The Act provides that 3 per cent reservation has to be mandatorily provided by the appropriate government and out of that, one per cent seats would be given to visually-impaired ones, persons with hearing impairment and people suffering from locomotive disability each, it said.
The apex court had held that the provisions of the Act have to be implemented in letter and spirit "positively by 2014", the plea said.