The Supreme Court on Monday granted the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) one week to place on record its compliance affidavit detailing the proposed plan, timeline and modalities for deployment of screen-reader software for visually-impaired candidates appearing in its examinations.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta accepted the request of counsel for the UPSC, who submitted that the Commission was “completely complying” with the earlier directions but required a week’s time to file the affidavit. The matter has been listed for further hearing on February 23.
The direction flows from the Court’s December 3, 2025 judgment on a plea filed by Mission Accessibility, which sought modification of the timeline for scribe registration in the Civil Services Examination and permission for visually-impaired candidates to use laptops equipped with screen-reader software along with accessible digital question papers.
In that judgment, the Court held that the rights of persons with disabilities are not acts of charity but flow from the constitutional guarantee of equality, dignity and non-discrimination.
The Court had directed the UPSC to:
- Incorporate in every examination notification a clear provision allowing eligible candidates to request a change of scribe up to at least seven days before the examination
- Ensure that such requests are decided by a reasoned order within three working days
- File within two months a comprehensive compliance affidavit detailing the plan of action, timeline and modalities for deployment of screen-reader software
The Court had further required that the affidavit specify:
- Steps for testing, standardisation and validation of the screen-reader software
- Details of the related infrastructure at all examination centres or designated centres
- The feasibility of making the facility operational for all eligible candidates from the next examination cycle
It had also directed the UPSC to coordinate with the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities and the National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Visual Disabilities to frame uniform guidelines and protocols for assistive technologies in examinations.
Recording the UPSC’s submission that the compliance exercise was underway, the bench granted one week to file the affidavit in terms of the December 3 order and deferred the matter to February 23 for further consideration.
