The central legal point established in the judgment is the obligation of the appropriate government to make reservations for physically challenged persons as required under the Persons with Disabilities Act, and the failure to adhere to these provisions constitutes a violation of the rights of the affected individuals.

Ranjan Gogoi, J.

1. The writ petitioner, who is a physically handicapped person, complains of an alleged violation of his right to receive fair consideration for appointment to the Arunachal Pradesh Civil Service. Specifically, the aforesaid grievance has been raised on the ground that in the advertisement issued for filling up vacant posts in the Arunachal Pradesh Civil Service (Groups A & B) pursuant to which selections have been made, reservations as required to be provided under the provisions of Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, (hereinafter referred to as the Act) have not been made and consequently the right of the petitioner to be considered against the posts which were required to be kept reserved under the provisions of the Act have been infringed.

2. By an advertisement dated 8.6.2001, applications were invited for filling up as many as 63 vacant posts in the Arunachal Pradesh Civil Service (Groups A and B). It is not disputed at the Bar that after the advertisement was so issued on 8.6.2001, 7 posts were taken out of the purview of the selection process and subsequently a total of 43 other posts were requisitioned by the state to be filled up on the basis of the selection process initiated by the Public Service Commission. In this manner, a total of 100 posts in the Arunachal Pradesh Civil Service (Groups A & B) were covered by the recruitment process initiated by the Public Service Commission though it appears that two of the aforesaid posts in the cadre of Assistant Director, Textiles, were subsequently kept outside the purview of selection under court's orders. The petitioner submitted his application pursuant to the advertisement issued and qualified in the preliminary as well as the main written examination held. Having qualified in the main written examination, he was called for the viva-voce test, wherein he participated. However, in the select list prepared by the Public Service Commission, the name of the petitioner did not figure. Consequently, the present writ petition has been filed contending that a minimum of 1% of the available posts should have reserved for physically handicapped candidates of the category to which the petitioner belongs, i.e., Orthopaedically handicapped persons having locomotor disability/cerebral palsy, as required under the provisions of the Act in force. On the above basis, a case has been sought to be built up by the petitioner that had the reservation as required by the provisions of the Act been made, the petitioner would have been considered against the specific reserved category of candidates of physically handicapped, in which event the petitioner claims he would have been selected and consequently appointed on the basis of inter se merit of the physically handicapped candidates.

3. Having noticed the parameters of the challenge made in the writ petition, this Court may now proceed to understand the projections made by the state and the Public Service Commission before this Court in the affidavits filed. The State had not denied and disputed that reservation under the provisions of the Act are required to be made and in fact has enclosed two circulars dated 20.2.2000 and 23.5.2000 (Annexure-B and C to the counter affidavit of the State), which circulars have been issued by the competent authority of the state requiring the appointing authorities to adhere to the reservation provided by the provisions of the Act. In fact, the stand taken by the state Government in the affidavit filed is that reservation, as required under the provisions of the Act, have been directed by the state to be made available in all deserving cases in accordance with the principles laid down in different memorandums issued by the Government of India in this regard. The instant advertisement was issued by the Public Service Commission on the basis of requisition/requisitions placed by the state and it was, therefore, the duty