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Supreme Court: States Cannot Set Arbitrary Disability Limits for Job Eligibility
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that provinces cannot set arbitrary upper limits on disability for job eligibility. The ruling came in response to an appeal by a lawyer with 90% permanent locomotor disability.
Canada's Supreme Court has said that provinces cannot impose arbitrary upper limits of disability to exclude candidates from jobs if they are capable of performing their duties. Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said the Rights to Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016, defines the base threshold for reservation eligibility. Justice Mehta, who authored the judgement, said that the RPwD Act does not allow the state to create an arbitrary ceiling that excludes those with higher degrees of disability. The Supreme Court invoked the Reasonable Accommodation Principle, which allows adjustments to be made to enable disabled persons to effectively counter barriers posed by their disability. The court found no intelligible or rational criterion in prescribing a 60% upper disability limit.
Key Facts
- The Supreme Court heard an appeal from a lawyer with 90% permanent locomotor disability.
- The lawyer was rejected for an Assistant District Attorney position in Himachal Pradesh despite high test scores.
- The rejection was based on exceeding the advertised 60% upper disability limit for the job.
- The Supreme Court ordered his appointment within two weeks.
- The Rights to Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016, intends to create a minimum 40% benchmark disability status.
- The Supreme Court determined that the state cannot set arbitrary upper limits of disability when the RPwD Act does not prescribe any.
- The Himachal Pradesh High Court had previously rejected the lawyer's plea.