LPA 28 of 2012

Page 1 of 18

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

+

LPA No.28 of 2012 & CM No.770 of 2012

UNION OF INDIA & ANR.

. . . APPELLANTS

through :

Mr.

Rajiv

Mehra,

Sr.

Advocate with Mr. Ruchir

Mishra, Mr. Mukesh Kr.

Tiwari

and

Mr.

Sanjeev

Kumar Saxena, Advocates.

VERSUS

SHANTI YADAV & ORS.

. . .RESPONDENTS

through:

Mr. R. Subramanium with

Mr.

Santosh

Kumar,

Advocates for R-1 to 3.

Mr. S.K. Puri, Sr. Advocate

with Mr. Praveen Kumar,

Advocate for R-4 to 28.

CORAM :-

HON’BLE THE ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE

HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIV SAHAI ENDLAW

A.K. SIKRI (Acting Chief Justice)

1.

Army Wives Welfare Association („AWWF‟ for brevity) is a

voluntary and Non-Government Organization (NGO) established

with an intention to carry out charity. It started a school for

handicapped children of Army Personnel known as “Asha school”.

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Some funding is provided to this school by the Ministry of Social

Justice and Empowerment, Government of India (appellant herein).

In this behalf, the appellants have issued guidelines in the year, 1999

which stated that DD Division of the Ministry has been

administering four NGO Schemes, viz., “Scheme to Promote

Voluntary Action Persons with Disabilities” („scheme‟ in short)

since 1992-93 and in order to broaden the objective of the Scheme

and to make it in consonance with the provisions of The Persons

with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full

Participation) Act, 1955 [hereinafter referred to as „Disabilities

Act‟], all these Schemes have been merged into one umbrella

scheme with effect from 20.1.1999. Some of the salient features of

the Scheme are as under:

“Introduction

1.0

The enactment of the people with Disabilities, Equal

Opportunities and protection of Rights Act of 1995 is a

landmark

legislation

and

an

expression

of

India‟s

commitment to social justice.

The Scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice &

Empowerment, Government of India, simplifies and facilities

procedure for easy access to Government support for NGOs

with the aim to widen the scope and range of programmes. It

will address the unmet needs of the over 95% Indian citizens

with disabilities who have not had access to services so far.

2.0

The objectives of the Scheme:

To ensure effective implementation of the Act.

To encourage voluntary action.

To create enabling environment.

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To ensure equal opportunities, equity and social justice

to persons with disabilities.

To empower persons with disabilities.

To

implement

outreach

and

comprehensive

Community Based Rehabilitation programmes in

urban and rural environments.

To enhance education opportunities at all level and in

all forms.

To enlarge the scope of vocational and professional

opportunities,

income

generation

and

gainful

occupations.

To support all such measures as may be necessary for

promoting formal as well as non-formal employment

and placement opportunities.

To support people with disabilities in projects which

are environment friendly and Eco promotive.

To support effort to ensure protection of human, civil

and consumer rights to persons with disabilities.

To support legal literacy, including legal counseling,

legal aid and analysis and evaluation of existing laws.

To

support

the

development

publication

and

dissemination of information documentation and

training materials.

To support the conduct of surveys and other forms of

epidemiological studies.

To support (a) construction and maintenance of

buildings, (b) furniture and fixtures, and (c) installation

and maintenance of machinery and equipment.

To support and facilitate the availability of appropriate

housing, homes and hostel facilities.

To establish and support facilities for sport, recreation,

leisure-time