Supreme Court - Daily Orders
Seema Girija Lal vs Union Of India on 17 July, 2023
Author: Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha
Bench: Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha
1
ITEM NO.21 COURT NO.1 SECTION PIL-W
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) Diary No(s). 29329/2021
SEEMA GIRIJA LAL & ANR. Petitioner(s)
VERSUS
UNION OF INDIA & ORS. Respondent(s)
(WITH IA No. 204291/2022 - CONDONATION OF DELAY IN REFILING /
CURING THE DEFECTS, IA No. 727/2023 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING
AFFIDAVIT)
Date : 17-07-2023 This petition was called on for hearing today.
CORAM :
HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PAMIDIGHANTAM SRI NARASIMHA
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MANOJ MISRA
For Petitioner(s) Mr. K. Parameshwar, Adv.
Mr. Akshay Sahay, Adv.
Mr. A. Karthik, AOR
Ms. Smrithi Suresh, Adv.
Ms. Sreepriya K, Adv.
Mr. Arsh Khan, Adv.
For Respondent(s) Mr. Vikramjit Banerjee, A.S.G.
Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR
Mr. Nachiketa Joshi, Adv.
Mrs. Swarupama Chaturvedi, Adv.
Mrs. Ruchi Kohli, Adv.
Mr. Jitendra Kumar Tripathi, Adv.
Mr. Sidharth Sinha, Adv.
Mr. Santosh Krishnan, AOR
Mr. Sahil Bhalaik, Adv.
Mr. Sumeer Sodhi, AOR
Signature Not Verified
Mr. Arjun Nanda, Adv.
Digitally signed by
Sanjay Kumar
Date: 2023.07.17
17:14:37 IST
Reason:
2
Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR
Mrs. Anu K Joy, Adv.
Mr. Abraham C Mathew, Adv.
Mr. Alim Anvar, Adv.
Dr. Ravindra Chingale, Adv.
Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv.
Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR
Mr. Bharat Bagla, Adv.
Mr. Sourav Singh, Adv.
Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR
Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Adv.
Mr. Varun Chugh, Adv.
Mr. Ankit Raj, Adv.
Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv.
Dr. N. Visakamurthy, Adv.
Mr. Sahil Bhalaik, AOR
Mr. Tushar Giri, Adv.
Mr. Siddharth Anil Khanna, Adv.
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
1 The Union government has filed an affidavit through the Joint Secretary in the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Annexure II to the affidavit indicates the status of the implementation of the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 20161 in the States/Union Territories as on 11 May 2023. 2 The status of implementation of the legislation indicates a dismal position across the country. For convenience of reference, the tabulated statement, as annexed by the Union of India to the affidavit, is reproduced below:
1 “Act” 3 “Status of implementation of the provisions of Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 by the States/UTs as on 11.05.2023 Sr. No. Relevant sections of the RpwD Act, States yet to comply 2016 1 Notification of Rules as per Section 101 Chattisgarh, Ladakh, of the RPwD Act, 2016 Maharashtra 2 Constitution of State Advisory Board as Andhra Pradesh, Dadra and per Section 66 of the RPwD Act, 2016 Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Ladakh, Rajasthan 3 Independent Commissioner for PwDs as Andaman and Nicobar per Section 79 of the RPwD Act, 2016 Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Chattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Tripura 4 Constitution of District Level Committees Chandigarh, Dadra and as pef Section 72 of the RPwD Act, 2016 Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Kerala, Ladakh and Lakshadweep 5 Designation of Special Court as per Arunachal Pradesh, Section 84 of the RPwD Act, 2016 Chattisgarh, Ladakh, West Bengal 6 Appointment of Public Prosecutor as Arunachal Pradesh, per Section 85 of the RPwD Act, 2016 Chattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Goa, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Ladakh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Telangana, Uttarakhand, West Bengal 7 Appointment of Nodal Officer in Assam, Bihar, Dadra and District Education office as per Sections Nagar Haveli and Daman 16,17 and 31 of the RPwD Act, 2016 and Diu, Goa, Jharkhand, and Rule 7 of the RPwD Rules 2017 Maharashtra, Nagaland, Puducherry, Tripura 8 Constitution of Assessment Board for Chattisgarh (Not provided issuance of Disability Certificate as per any information) Chapter 7 of RPwD Rules 2017 4 9 Constitution of Assessment Board for Andaman and Nicobar high support needs as per Chapter 5A of Islands, Andhra Pradesh, the RPwD Amendment Rules, 2019 Assam, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Ladakh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Odisha, Telangana, West Bengal 10 Whether State fundfor PwDs created Andhra Pradesh, Assam, as per Section 88 of the RPwD Act, 2016 Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Delhi, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Ladakh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, West Bengal 11 Constitution of Committee for Research Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal on Disability as per Section 6 (2) (ii) of Pradesh, Bihar, Dadra and the RPwD Act, 2016 Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Nagaland, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, West Bengal 12 Designated authority to provide limited Andhra Pradesh, guardianship as per Section 14 of the Arunachal Pradesh, RPwD Act, 2016 Assam, Ladakh, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Sikkim, West Bengal 13 Appointment of authority for registration Lakshadweep of institutions working in disability sector as per Section 49 of the RPwD Act, 2016 5 *The States/UTs having separate departments for persons with disabilities:
Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh (Total 11)”
3 From the above statement, it appears that Rules under Section 101 of the Act have yet not been notified by the States of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and by the Union Territory of Ladakh. Counsel appearing on behalf of the State of Chhattisgarh states that Rules have been notified by the State of Chhattisgarh.
4 The Chief Commissioners are entrusted with statutory duties including the duty of monitoring the implementation of the provisions of the Act. This is evident from the provisions of Sections 75(1)(h) and Section 80(g) which define the functions of the Central and State Commissioners, respectively. Independent Commissioners under Section 79 have not been appointed by several States and UTs, which is evident from Serial No 3 of the tabulated statement, extracted above.
5 We direct the State Governments to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Act so as to rectify the deficiencies which have been noted in the affidavit filed by the Union government expeditiously on or before 30 September 2023. Since the Commissioners are entrusted with an important statutory function of overseeing the implementation of the provisions of the Act, the States/UTs shall ensure appointment of the Commissioners by 31 August 2023.
6 Since both the Central and State Commissioners are statutorily entrusted with the duty to ensure the implementation of the provisions of the Act 6 under Sections 75(1)(h) and 80(g), they shall be accountable to this Court for ensuring that due compliance has been effected in terms of this order.
7 All State Governments/Union Territories shall upload the relevant data pertaining to the status of compliance on the dashboard of the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment shall coordinate with all the State Governments/Union Territories through the respective Ministries and submit a status report to this Court by 15 September 2023. 8 List the Petition on 18 September 2023.
(SANJAY KUMAR-I) (SAROJ KUMARI GAUR) DEPUTY REGISTRAR ASSISTANT REGISTRAR