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This is an archive article published on March 1, 2024
How does general law of transfer meld with Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act? Delhi HC to consider
A single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court has set aside the transfer order of a specially abled government company employee, saying it could ‘create hindrances’ to his treatment.
The high court had then observed that it is a well-settled principle that while “adjudicating upon such delicate matters” courts have to be “more sensitive and empathetic to the plight of persons with disability” and to ensure that values provided in Articles 14, 15, 16 and 21 of the Constitution of India are protected.
The Delhi High Court is set to consider how the general law of transfers blends with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act and has appointed advocate Rahul Bajaj, a specially abled member of the bar, as an amicus curiae in the matter.
“We are of the view that in the matter before us, one of the issues that requires consideration is how the general law on transfers melds with the provisions of The Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016,” a division bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdher and Justice Amit Bansal said in its February 27 order.
The bench was hearing an appeal moved by a government company incorporated by the Ministry of Railways under the Companies Act against a single judge’s order which had allowed an employee – an ‘orthopaedically handicapped person with 72 percent locomotor disability’ – to not be transferred from Delhi to Chhattisgarh.
The appeal was next listed on April 29 after the bench asked the high court registry to dispatch a copy of their order and the case papers to Bajaj.
Bhavneet Singh had challenged before the single-judge bench an August 22, 2022, order transferring him to Chhattisgarh Rail Project from the company’s corporate office in Delhi as well as the August 23, 2022, relieving order. Singh had argued then that there would be no one to help him with his “everyday chores and most basic daily needs” if he was transferred to Chhattisgarh.
The single-judge bench in its December 15 order said, “India being a welfare state embarks on ensuring that there is provision of equal opportunity to the persons with disabilities. Moreover, it aims at ensuring that the persons with disabilities are not subjected to any discrimination either at place of education, place of work, any public place, etc and further aims at ensuring of giving them access to the requisite education training, medical facilities, etc and therefore, the State has enacted various laws, and has signed various international treaties to fulfil the said objective.”
The high court had then observed that it is a well-settled principle that while “adjudicating upon such delicate matters” courts have to be “more sensitive and empathetic to the plight of persons with disability” and to ensure that values provided in Articles 14, 15, 16 and 21 of the Constitution of India are protected.
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After considering Singh’s medical condition and his ongoing treatment, the high court had said that Singh should not be transferred to any other state as it may “create hindrances to the treatment of the petitioner” and thereafter set aside the transfer and relieving orders.
The high court had also observed that the company acted in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution “since it ignored the special needs of the petitioner and posted him to a far- off place”. The high court had further said the state shall ensure that the persons with disabilities are not subjected to “unnecessary and relentless harassment by being transferred/posted at places where they are unable to get an environment which is conducive for their working”.
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