Jharkhand HC Orders State Government to Build Accessible Facilities for People with Disabilities in Courts, Tribunals Within Six Months

The Jharkhand High Court has ordered the state government to build accessible facilities for people with disabilities in all courts, tribunals, and quasi-judicial bodies within six months.

In its order from September 29 (uploaded on October 5), a bench of Justice Rajesh Shankar and Chief Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra of Jharkhand stated that the state was required by law to offer such facilities within five years of the notification of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2017.

The bench mandated that these facilities be provided within six months as the aforementioned timeframe has already passed.

In light of the situation, the court said in its order, "We allow this writ petition (PIL) and hereby direct that since five years have already passed, the said facilities shall be made available in any court, tribunal, authority, commission, or other judicial or quasi-judicial body, within a period of six months, as undertaken by Rajiv Ranjan, learned advocate-general appearing for the state.

The People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Jharkhand chapter filed the PIL petition, asking for a directive to the state government to provide a minimum of two wheelchairs in all courts and judicial and quasi-judicial venues. The petition was granted.

In line with Sections 12 (access to justice) and 45 (time limit) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act of 2016, the petition further called for the installation of appropriate infrastructure to accommodate people with disabilities.

The top court had instructed the state to take suitable instructions and submit counteraffidavits in June of this year. However, the court determined that the government had no objections to the petitioner's appeal because no affidavit from the state had been submitted.

"The Chief Secretary of the State of Jharkhand (Sukhdev Singh) shall execute our order by issuing appropriate directions to the Department in charge of providing the Infrastructure and other Facilities to the Differently Abled Persons," the court commanded.

Although they applauded the high court's judgment, advocates for the physically disabled thought that much more work remained to be done to provide an accessible and barrier-free environment in the legal system.

"Creating a barrier-free, accessible environment is a critical first step in ensuring that persons with disabilities have the opportunity to participate in all facets of community life, particularly the judicial system. We applaud the supreme court's decision. But in reality, much more needs to be done to guarantee barrier-free access for the blind and deaf in the judiciary, according to Arun Kumar Singh of Jamshedpur, who has been advocating for the rights of the physically challenged through the Rashtriya Viklang Manch.

He stated that they wanted the judiciary to make sure that braille and sign language were acceptable in court proceedings for people who were blind or deaf.