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SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
A.K. SIKRI, R.K. AGRAWAL, JJ.
Jeeja Ghosh & Anr. – Petitioners
Versus
Union of India & Ors. – Respondents
Writ Petition (C) No. 98 of 2012
Decided On : 12-05-2016
(b) Civil Aviation Requirements 2008, Guidelines r/w Rule 133-A of Aircraft Rules, 1937 – Article 5 and 4 – Petitioner, a cerebral palsy patient de-boarded from aircraft – Evidence not showing any medical condition for her de-embarkation – Only assistance she required was regarding her baggage – Held, petitioner was not given appropriate, fair and caring treatment which she required with due sensitivity – Attitude and behaviour of the Airline violative of CAR 2008 guidelines and Rule 133-A. (Para 34, 35)
(c) Constitution of India – Article 21 and Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 – CAR – Rights guaranteed to differently abled persons – Human right – Human dignity a constitutional value and a constitutional goal – Respect for human rights is the root for human development and realisation of full potential of each individual – “Non disabled people do not understand disabled ones” – Respondent no. 3 acting in a callous manner towards petitioner – Petitioner awarded Rs. 10,00,000 as damages to be payable to her by respondent No.3. (Para 36, 38, 43, 47)
Facts of the case:
Ms. Ghosh, an eminent activist involved in disability rights, was invited to an International Conference, North South Dialogue IV, in Goa, from the 19th to the 23rd of February, 2012, hosted by ADAPT (Petitioner no. 2). The conference was intended to put a special focus on people with disabilities and their families, countries in the global South facing huge systemic and institutional barriers, and the tools for change that would make a difference in their lives in these countries. Additionally, Ms. Jeeja Ghosh was invited as one of 15 international individuals to review an Indo-German project which was being show-cased at the conference. ADAPT purchased return plane tickets for Ms. Jeeja Ghosh, including a seat on flight SG 803, operated by SpiceJet Ltd. (Respondent no. 3) scheduled to fly from Kolkata to Goa on the morning of 19th February, 2012. The conference was to begin in the afternoon of the 19th February, 2012.
After being seated on the flight, Ms. Jeeja Ghosh was approached by members of the flight crew who requested to see her boarding pass, which she gave them. Then they proceeded to order her off the plane. Despite her tearful protestations and informing them that she needed to reach Goa for the conference, they insisted that she de-board. After returning to the airport and arguing with airlines officials, she later discovered that the Captain had insisted that she be removed due to her disability.
As a result of the shock and trauma of this event she had trouble sleeping and eating, so she was taken to a doctor the following day where she was prescribed medication. Because of this, she was unable to fly to Goa on 20th February, 2012, and, thus, missed the conference all together. Not only did this humiliate and traumatize her, but it also deprived the conference organizer, ADAPT (petitioner no. 2) and all of the attendees of the opportunity to hear her thoughts and experiences, and prevented her from providing her analysis of the Indo-German project under review.
Hence this PIL.
Finding of the Court:
Respondent no. 3 acted in a callous manner.
Result: Writ petition allowed with damages.
JUDGMENT :
A.K. Sikri, J.
In the book on the rights of differently abled persons authored by Joseph P. Shapiro, which is titled “NO PITY” [`NO PITY': People with Disabilities Forging a New Civil Rights Movement' [Indian reprint by Universal Book Traders]], the first chapter, 'Introduction' has the sub-title 'You Just Don't Understand' and the very first sentence of the said book is : 'Nondisabled Americans do not understand disabled ones'.
2. The present PIL, spearheaded by Jeeja Ghosh, who is herself a disabled person, with the support of the NGO ADAPT (Able Disable All People Together), bears testimony to the statement of Shapiro. Irony is that though the aforesaid remarks were made by Shapiro way back in the year 1993 and notwithstanding the fact that there have been significant movements in recognising the rights of differently abled persons, much is yet to be achieved. India also has come out with various legislations and schemes for the upliftment of such differently abled persons, but gap between the laws and reality still remains. Even though human rights activists have made their best efforts to create awareness that people with disabilities have also right to enjoy their life and spend the same not only with the sense of fulfilment but also to make them contribute in the growth of the society, yet mindset of large section of the people who claim themselves to be 'able' persons still needs to be changed towards differently abled persons. It is this mindset of the other class which is still preventing, in a great measure, differently abled persons from enjoying their human rights which are otherwise recognised in their favour. Present case, though a PIL, got triggered by an incident which proves aforesaid introductory statement made by us.
3. Petitioner no. 1, Ms. Jeeja Ghosh is an Indian citizen with cerebral palsy. She is an eminent activist involved in disability rights. She is, inter alia, a Board member of the National Trust, an organization of the Government of India, set up under the “National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities” Act (Act 4 of 1999). Ms. Ghosh has been felicitated by the West Bengal Commission for Women on the occasion of International Women's Day in the year 2004, and is the recipient of the Shri N.D. Diwan Memorial Award for Outstanding Professional Services in Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities by the National Society for Equal Opportunities of the Handicapped (NASEOH) in the year 2007. Ms. Jeeja Ghosh is also the recipient of the 'Role Model Award' from the Office of the Disability Commissioner, Government of West Bengal, for the year 2009, and was also an elected Board Member of the National Trust for Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Disabilities and Mental Retardation from 14th August, 2008 to 19th July, 2011. This Curriculum Vitae of petitioner no. 1 amply demonstrates how a person suffering from cerebral palsy, can overcome the disability and achieve such distinctions in her life, notwithstanding various kinds of retardation and the negative attitudes which such persons has to face from the society.
4. It so happened that Ms. Ghosh was invited to an International Conference, North South Dialogue IV, in Goa, from the 19th to the 23rd of February, 2012, hosted by ADAPT (Petitioner no. 2). The conference was intended to put a special focus on people with disabilities and their families, countries in the global South facing huge systemic and institutional barriers, and the tools for change that would make a difference in their lives in these countries. Additionally, Ms. Jeeja Ghosh was invited as one of 15 international individuals to review an Indo-German project which was being show-cased at the conference. ADAPT purchased return plane tickets for Ms. Jeeja Ghosh, including a seat on flight SG 803,
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