The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, provides for a 4% reservation for persons with benchmark disabilities in recruitment but does not extend this reservation to promotions unless specified by the appropriate government.

JUDGMENT

The petitioner by way of this writ petition has prayed as under:-

"It is therefore, most respectfully, prayed that this Hon'ble Court be pleased to call for the entire record relating to this case and after perusing the same may be pleased to accept and allow this writ petition, and:-

(i) By issuing an appropriate writ, order or direction the impugned notice dated 03.09.2021, may kindly be quashed and set- aside and further respondents may kindly be directed for issuing a fresh notice for promotion to Scale-I Officer by prescribing 4% reservation to the candidates with bench mark disabilities, with all consequential benefits.

(ii) By issuing an appropriate writ, order or direction respondents may kindly be directed for giving promotion to the petitioner on the post Scale-I Officer, according to his merit, with all consequential benefits.

(iii) Any other appropriate writ, order of direction which this Hon'ble Court may deem think fit and proper may kindly be passed in favour of the petitioner.

(iv) Costs of the writ petition may kindly be awarded in favour of the petitioner."

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, provides for reservation to 4% of disabled persons for recruitment alone. The relevant Section 34 reads as under:-

"34.Reservation.--(1)Every appropriate Government shall appoint in every Government establishment, not less than four per cent. of the total number of vacancies in the cadre strength in each group of posts meant to be filled with persons with benchmark disabilities of which, one per cent. each shall be reserved for persons with benchmark disabilities under clauses (a), (b) and (c) and one per cent. for persons with benchmark disabilities under clauses (d) and (e), namely:--

(a) blindness and low vision;

(b) deaf and hard of hearing;

(c) locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims and muscular dystrophy;

(d) autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability and mental illness;

(e) multiple disabilities from amongst persons under clauses (a) to (d) including deaf-blindness in the posts identified for each disabilities:

Provided that the reservation in promotion shall be in accordance with such instructions as are issued by the appropriate Government from time to time:

Provided further that the appropriate Government, in consultation with the Chief Commissioner or the State Commissioner, as the case may be, may, having regard to the type of work carried out in any Government establishment, by notification and subject to such conditions, if any, as may be specified in such notifications exempt any Government establishment from the provisions of this section. (2) Where in any recruitment year any vacancy cannot be filled up due to non- availability of a suitable person with benchmark disability or for any other sufficient reasons, such vacancy shall be carried forward in the succeeding recruitment year and if in the succeeding recruitment year also suitable person with benchmark disability is not available, it may first be filled by interchange among the five categories and only when there is no person with disability available for the post in that year, the employer shall fill up the vacancy by appointment of a person, other than a person with disability: Provided that if the nature of vacancies in an establishment is such that a given category of person cannot be employed, the vacancies may be interchanged among the five categories with the prior approval of the appropriate Government. (3) The appropriate Government may, by notification, provide for such relaxation of upper age limit for employment of persons with benchmark disability, as it thinks fit "

Keeping in view the above, the claim of the petitioner for out of turn promotion on the Scale-1 post for disabled category is not made out as no circular has been issued by the Central Government for providing reservation for promotion to disabled category.

This writ petition is found to be whol