PARMINDER PAL SINGH Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner, who is a visually handicapped person, has filed the present writ petition, seeking, inter alia, a writ of mandamus, directing respondent No. 2 to conduct the examinations- written typing and shorthand for the visually handicapped, to be conducted by the Staff Selection Board, by providing question papers of written,test, typing and shrothand tests in bold or large print alongwith braille, both in Hindi and English.

(2.) The case of the petitioner, in short, is that petitioner is a visually handicapped person, falling within the category of (b)/(c), as specified in advertisement issued in the Employment News dated 15-21st July, 2000. The persons in these categories are not totally blind, i.e. those with total absence of sight, but are those who are visually handicapped with some degree of sight or vision. These persons, as per the petitioner, can, with the aid of lenses, etc., read bold print. Such persons, with the withdrawal of question papers in bold print, are now compelled to lake the paper in braille. Thus, the candidates who are visually handicapped hut not totally blind and eligible to appear, are deprived of taking examinations as they do not know braille.

(3.) At this stage, it would be appropriate to reproduce the" criteria adopted by the Staff Selection Commission for the categorisation of the blind and visually handicapped. Clause (3) of the advertisement reads as under: