The main legal point established in the judgment is the need for a more inclusive approach to disability reservations, particularly for persons with mental illness, and the recommendation for a comprehensive study by the government to address the deficiencies in the existing law and consider revising the 40% disability threshold.

S. RAVINDRA BHAT, J.

1. The appellant, in this Letters Patent Appeal is aggrieved by the judgment of a learned Single Judge, dismissing his petition W.P.(C)447/2013 under Article 226 of the Constitution of India wherein a challenge was laid to Section 33 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation), Act 1995 ("PWD Act") as being unconstitutional to the extent that it excludes persons with mental illness for the purpose of job reservations. It was also challenged that there was no compensatory mechanism - in terms of time lost while fighting the disability and inter alia sought other consequential reliefs. The impugned judgment rejected the writ petition holding that no statutory or constitutional right of the petitioner was violated.

The facts

2. The Appellant has lived with acute phases of mental illness [psychiatric disorder i.e. a severe depression with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)] since 1996-97 until 2006; he belongs to a notified other backward class (“OBC”). Therefore, he was a “person with mental impairment/disability” within the meaning of the PWD Act. In terms of the IDEA scale, the disability suffered by the Appellant over the years was above 40% rendering him ineligible to receive benefits in terms of reservation in employment and education. He claims that due to his mental illness, he wasted several years of his life in the attempt to excel in employment (Central Civil Service) exams. He had appeared seven times (the maximum attempts an OBC candidate is allowed) in the combined Civil Services Examination but had failed on each occasion. Post 2006 when his condition improved he found no assistance to compensate for the time lost in combating the mental illness; more so, he was unable to attempt the examination again through the “Physically Disabled” (PD) quota. He consequently urges that if the PWD Act is not amended to include reservations in government jobs for similarly situated individuals as him, i.e. those who suffer mental illness, it would be arbitrary and discriminatory.

3. Despite his disability, the Appellant claims that he prepared and appeared for the civil services exams in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. Though he qualified in the preliminary examination, he was unable to clear the mains examination. In 2008, he cleared the mains examination but was not called for training since he stood lower in the OBC merit (he scored 1110/2300). He contends that had he been allowed to appear from the Physically Disabled Category, he would have been selected as he had scored far above the last candidate selected from the Physically Disabled Category (991/2300). In his final attempt the appellant obtained 875/2000 whereas the last candidate in the physical disability category scored only 723/2000. In 2011 when the appellant attempted to register for the Civil Services Exam, his form was rejected stating “Already availed maximum number of chances available to your category/(illegible) entry.”

4. The Appellant claims that he visited Delhi and informed the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) about his disability through his representation dated 15.04.2011 and requested for consideration of his candidature as a person with disability and grant him the benefit of additional attempts that he lost due to his mental illness. However, no such relief was provided. It is argued that the PWD Act mentions “mental illness” as a disability under Section 2(i) but provides no rehabilitation or benefits in terms of age relaxation/reservations in jobs (thereby denying persons similarly situated as him) a level playing field and equal opportunities. Further, the appellant states that Section 33 of the PWD Act which directs the Government to reserve in every establishment, a percentage of vacancies for persons with disabilities does not extend such reservation to those rehabilitated after mental illness. Section 33 only lists (i) blindness or low vision, (ii) Hearing impa