The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the Law Commission of India to examine whether the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act should be amended to allow unfilled disability quota seats in higher educational institutions to be carried forward to the next academic year.
A division bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela observed that introducing such a mechanism, or alternatively diverting the unutilised seats to other categories of persons with disabilities, would go a long way in fulfilling the objectives of the RPwD Act.
The court’s directions came while hearing a petition filed by Jahanvi Nagpal. She had sought allocation of a seat under the disability category in the NEET-UG 2022 cycle, citing Section 32 of the RPwD Act. The plea was against the central government and the National Medical Commission.
Nagpal argued that vacant seats in the disability quota should not lapse but be made available to eligible candidates.
The bench pointed out a “contrast” between Section 34 of the RPwD Act, which governs reservation in public employment, and Section 32, which deals with higher educational institutions. While Section 34 provides for carrying forward unfilled vacancies to the next year, no such mechanism exists in Section 32.
“If the petitioner’s prayer is acceded to, it would amount to reading into Section 32 something that is not provided for,” the court noted, making it clear that the relief could not be granted judicially in the absence of statutory backing.
At the same time, the judges stressed that it was “the need of the hour” for the Union government to address the issue. “The provisions of the RPwD Act must be applied with full force and vigour to empower persons with disabilities,” the bench said.
