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New Delhi: The Karnataka High Court has directed the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) and the state government to consider granting additional 20 minutes per hour for visually impaired students.
The division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Ashok S. Kinagi passed this direction in a plea alleging that for the upcoming KPSC preliminary exams for the post of gazetted probationers, scheduled for August 24, directives issued by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment were not being followed.
Senior Advocate Jayna Kothari, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the provisions under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act are not being complied with by the respondents. Moreover, the guidelines issued by the state government are not consistent with Central government guidelines issued on August 29, 2018, issued in pursuance to the Act.
Counsel for KPSC, advocate Reuben Jacob, submitted that out of a total of 682 visually impaired applied, only 305 had opted for scribes. The remaining 377 had not utilized the option.
After hearing the submissions of both parties, the Court held: “The first respondent (KPSC) will have to explain why the guidelines of the Central government have not been complied with.”
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“We are not passing any interim order as it will result in postponement of the examination. We, however, make it clear that the issue of legality of examination as regards visually impaired candidates will have to be kept open. Secondly, choice had been exercised by the candidates to opt for scribes way back in January. It is possible that some of the 305 candidates may not be able to procure the presence of scribes due to the situation created by COVID-19. The first respondent as well as the state government will have to take a stand on this,” the High Court noted.
-India Legal Bureau