A Bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and M.M. Sundresh said “grossly understaffed” departments in the police could accommodate disabled persons who cleared the services exam
The Supreme Court on Tuesday wondered whether the government can “lower the scale” of eligibility for disabled candidates applying for the Indian Police Service (IPS) even as the petitioners said if Israeli, American, and Canadian forces can accommodate the disabled, India can well try.
A Bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and M.M. Sundresh said departments in the police like cybercrime, which are “grossly understaffed”, could accommodate disabled persons who cleared the services exam.
Justice Banerjee reminded the government that there was a time when women were not allowed to join, “now they are”.
“If the Israeli Army can involve disabled persons, IPS can,” senior advocate Arvind Datar, for the NGO, National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled, submitted.
Mr. Datar was responding to an initially skeptical Bench, which asked about how disabled persons can participate in basic physical training.
“Frustration could creep in if they are not able to do their job…” Justice Sundresh wondered.
Justice Banerjee pointed out that officers have to climb the ranks to reach the top, and this would include physical assignments.
“I know that they cannot become DGPs overnight… However, there can be a change in the training itself. It need not involve five miles of running or rappelling, etc. In other countries, there is a different training for disabled persons,” Mr. Datar said.
“This would need a complete change in policy,” Justice Banerjee observed.
“We have to find a way,” Mr. Datar said. He said disabled persons were allowed to join the CRPF even Delhi and Kerala Police. “Only in IPS there is a problem,” he submitted.
The UPSC Mains exam for 2022 is on from mid September.
The Court adjourned the case to Monday on a request from the government.
The NGO had challenged September last year’s announcement excluding disabled persons from certain branches of the civil services, both in combat and administrative capacities. Mr. Datar had argued that the issue was of national importance and the notification was both unlawful and arbitrary. He said the exclusion of disabled persons amounted to the abuse of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act.
The Supreme Court had earlier allowed disabled persons who have cleared their civil services’ written exams time till April 1 to provisionally apply to the Union Public Services Commission for selection to the Indian Police Service, Indian Railways Protection Force Service and the Delhi, Daman & Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Police Service [(DANIPS).
