The Petitioner, Mr. Muralidhar, is a person with 50% locomotor disability and an applicant for the post of District Disabled Welfare Officer within the Department for Empowerment of Differently Abled & Senior Citizens, Government of Karnataka.
Mr. Muralidhar has filed this present Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution challenging the actions of the Respondents in violating provisions of Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995. The Karnataka Public Service Commission(KPSC) issued a Notification dated 18.01.2021 calling for vacancies in 10 posts, including the District Disabled Welfare Officer.
Despite the post of District Disabled Welfare Officer being identified for persons with disability including persons with locomotor disability as per Notification No. DPAR 21 SRR 2008 dated 03.08.2009, KPSC had failed to provide 3% reservation for the persons with disability as mandated under the Persons with Disability (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995 (‘1995 Act’). It only provided for reservation to persons belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Category 1 and Category 2(A) with a horizontal reservation for women applicants, Karnataka rural applicants and others. Therefore, the Notification dated 18.01.2021 made no provision to reserve any post for persons with disability and provided no rationale or reason to exclude physically handicapped candidates from the purview of the reservation.
The Karnataka State Public Service Commission is bound under Section 33 of the 1995 Act to reserve vacancies not less than 3% for disabled persons in all classes of posts in the public sector.
Moreover, the Government of Karnataka bought in an amendment to the Karnataka Civil Services (General Recruitment) Rules 1977 in 2005, bringing in reservation for physically handicapped persons in all categories of posts. Despite this, no reservation was provided for by KPSC and the Petitioner was not considered for the post although he possessed the necessary qualifications for the post.
Accordingly, this petition prayed for direction from the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka setting aside the KPSC Notification dated 18.01.2012 and seeking reservation of 1 post out of 10 posts of District Disabled Welfare Officer for persons with disabilities. Presently, the Petition is pending for the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka.