JUDGMENT :

SANJAY KISHAN KAUL, J.

1. The international awakening to further the rights and equal opportunities to persons with special abilities (hereinafter referred to as ‘PWD’) propelled the adoption of the Proclamation on the Full Participation and Equality of People with Disabilities in the Asian and Pacific Region in the meeting of the member states of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific held in Beijing in December, 1992; to which India was a signatory. In furtherance of its international commitments, The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (hereinafter referred to as “the 1995 Act”) was enacted which came into force on 7th February, 1996. In 2007, India ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). In pursuance to the debates in the Standing Committee of the Parliament, The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (hereinafter referred to as “the 2016 Act”) replaced the 1995 Act.

2. The issue debated before us in the present proceedings is the right of promotion under the 1995 Act, as claimed by the respondent, in which she succeeded befo