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On statutes for the differently abled

It has been the efforts of the movement for the rights of the disabled that forced the Government to enact a slew of legislations to protect the rights of the disabled. Enactments such as the Mental Health Act, 1987, Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992, Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, and the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999 are the outcome of such efforts. However, their struggle was not over, as these statutes remained unimplemented.

So, activists of the movement had to approach the Supreme Court, various High Courts and the National Human Rights Commission.

Thus, a new branch of law has been born - disability right jurisprudence.

The judgments handed down from these courts in favour of persons with disabilities are scattered across the country. Most of them have hardly found their way into the media or law books.

Such rulings remain only in the hands of the activists who approached courts.

It was in this context that the Human Rights Laws Net Work brought out `Disability and the Law,' a book compiling judicial pronouncements on the rights of the disabled, both national and international. As pointed out by Executive Director of the Net Work Colin Gonsalves, judicial responses were "uneven," but in many cases judges rose to the occasion interpreting the law in a manner beneficial to the disabled section.

According to him, the book gives the reader a glimpse of the legal scenario prevailing in the U.S. and some countries of Europe.

It also puts together all the main judgments of the courts in the country on the issue.

The book has eight chapters dealing with specific issues - Constitutional framework; Education; Employment; Access; Housing; Social Security; Mental Health and General Principles.

Under the chapter Constitution, the book takes a look at the judgments on fundamental rights to equality, prohibition of discrimination on grounds of caste, sex, etc., and employment opportunities.

It cites the ruling by the apex court that even though backward classes of citizen as used in Article 15(4) did not cover person with disabilities, the constitutional scheme and spirit of Articles 14 and Article 15(1) and 16 allowed for reservation and other kinds of affirmative action in favour of a person with disabilities.

The Chapter on Education deals with various legal hurdles faced by disabled persons to have access to education. It also contains various judgments defending the rights to education of the disabled.

Employment provision in the Disabilities Act is the most empowering tool available to the disabled.

The chapter on Education contains verdicts upholding the right of the disabled for three per cent reservation in Government jobs as well as declaring illegal termination and denial of promotions to the disabled.

The most important chapter is on Access. Accessibility does not mean "architectural barrier."

It encompasses accessibility to quality education, information, entertainment, etc. In fact, the Act does not have an exclusive chapter on Access.

The chapter points out that the first public interest litigation was filed on the issue three years after the statute was enacted.

Allowing a petition filed by Javed Abidi, the Supreme Court had directed that ambu-lifts and aisle chairs be made available at his work place.

Besides, the apex court ordered in 2004 that the polling booths set up for the 2004 general elections be fitted with Braille signage on electronic voting machines, provided with the service of interpreters for the deaf and ramps for wheel-chair users.

The judgments on housing, social security and mental health are very useful to those who work in the movement for disability rights and also the disabled.

K.C. Gopakumar

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