The Gujarat High Court has disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the National Federation of the Blind.
The PIL sought to ensure that the State of Gujarat complies with the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, particularly with regard to reservation of posts for persons with benchmark disabilities.
The bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justices Pranav Trivedi was informed that the State Government had conducted an exercise to compute the backlog vacancies for persons with disabilities in 27 government departments and undertakings.
The exercise revealed that there were 21,114 backlog vacancies, which were to be filled up within a year from December 1, 2024.
The petitioner’s counsel, SK Rungta, submitted that the time period of one year was sufficient to fill up the backlog vacancies.
However, the Advocate General, Kamal Trivedi, sought an extension of time to fill up the vacancies, citing the large number of posts to be filled.
The court balanced the concerns of both parties and directed that all endeavors should be made to notify the vacancies to the recruiting agencies within the time period specified in the circular dated November 11, 2024.
The recruiting agencies were also directed to complete the process of selection in a time-bound manner.
The court further stated that in case of any inconvenience or delay, it would be open for the concerned authority to approach the court for extension of time.
With these directions, the court disposed of the PIL, expressing hope that the recruitment process would be completed in a time-bound manner.