Appointment of Medical Board

Social Jurist, A Lawyers Group vs. Union of India and Anr

Filed Under: Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995
Appellant: Social Jurist, a Lawyers Group
Respondent: Union of India and Anr.
Citation: 2002 VI AD (Delhi) 217
Court: In the High Court of Delhi
Judges: S.B. Sinha and A.K. Sikri

Facts

Provisions of the Persons with Disabilities Act stipulate that the 'appropriate Government' (State or Central or any other appointed body) has to specify a 'Medical Authority' that would be competent to issue certificates to persons with disabilities specifying the extent of disability being suffered by them. Unless this certificate is issued the disabled person would not be able to claim the various benefits specified under the Act.

For more than 6 years, the Union of India failed to specify such medical authorities by means of a Notification to enable the disabled persons to obtain certificates and avail the benefits of the Act. The non-implementation of the provisions of the Act and the ensuing problems were brought before the Court through this public interest litigation.

Observations of the Court

According to the Court, the notice of this writ petition was issued to the UOI and the Delhi Government and it was expected that after the issuance of the notice, the Government would do the needful. However, nothing was done for the next 4 months even though the matter came up for hearing in the Court, 2-3 times. This Court then gave direction to the UOI that they must file a counter-affidavit explaining the delay.

The lawyer on behalf of the UOI stated that they were at a loss to decide whether it was the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare or the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment that was required to issue the notification. The Court then passed the orders that the Joint Secretaries of both the ministries should be present for the next hearing with the records.

According to the Court, once the order was passed both the ministries should have been able to resolve the issue with greater ease. When the matter came for the next hearing, the UOI produced an order constituting the Medical Boards in hospitals under the control of Government of India competent to give disability certificates as per the provisions of the Act.

However the lawyer on behalf of the Social Jurist pointed out that even though the orders had been passed, they were not in full conformity with the provisions of the Act. According to the Act, a notification specifying the guidelines for the evaluation of various disabilities was required and only an order was not enough. The Court passed the direction to UOI in light of this contention.

The writ petition was thereby disposed off with the direction that a formal Notification needed to be issued in conformity with the provisions of Section 2 (p) of the Act. It was also stated that the UOI would give wider publicity to the constitution of the Medical Authority using print and electronic media so that the disabled people were made aware of this.

The UOI and the Delhi Government were directed to display a list of hospitals involved in the deciding Board on the notice boards of hospitals as well as prominent places in the hospital premises.

Sections Referred:

Section 2 (p), Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995