Supreme Court : PwDs Must Be Given Promotion!
As per the Supreme Court’s verdict people with disabilities must be given promotion inorder encourage career progression. Watch our latest video to learn more!
There was a woman named Leesamma Joseph in Kerala. She had a 55% permanent disability. Her form of disability is not known. Her brother who was working with the Kerala Police, passed away during service. This is why Leesamma Joseph was employed in the Police department on compassionate grounds after her brother’s death. However, Leesamma Joseph was denied promotion because of her disability. A case was filed in the Kerala High Court. The HC then said that Leesamma Joseph is eligible for promotion under the PwD quota. However the Kerala government, unhappy with the HC’s decision, filed a case in the Supreme Court of India. Two judges Justices S.K. Kaul and R. Subhash Reddy presided over the case and said that
According to the Persons with Disabilities Act of 1995, if a person got a job because of their disability, or acquired a disability after getting a job through the general quota, then both such persons will be eligible for promotion. Similarly, if a person has been given a job on compassionate grounds and the person is disabled, then they are also eligible for promotion. The important thing is that the employee must be a person with a disability at the time of promotion. This is why Leesamma Joseph must be given a promotion. The judges also said the responsibility to provide equal opportunities to disabled persons does not end with giving them reservation at the time of recruitment. According to PwD law, all people with disabilities must be given equal opportunity for career progression, including promotion. If PwDs are not given promotion then they will never have the opportunity to rise and become successful and cause a lot of frustration. The court gave Kerala three months to identify posts in which reservation could be given for PwD in promotion.
