NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Kerala government on a plea filed by a lawyer with benchmark disability against a Kerala High Court judgment denying the benefit of reservation under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016, in appointments of additional public prosecutors and government pleaders.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta sought the state government’s response within four weeks, after the petitioner side argued that India is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) and that Parliament’s 2016 law implementing the Convention overrides Kerala’s 1978 Rules governing the appointment of law officers.
Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Abhilash M R, submitted that Section 34 of the RPwD Act is mandatory, requiring not less than four per cent reservation in every government establishment for persons with benchmark disabilities, without making any distinction between permanent, temporary, or contractual posts.