Bombay High Court grants relief to visually impaired woman denied job in Railways due to typo in application

The Bombay High Court recently granted relief to a woman with hundred percent visual impairment who was denied a job with the Indian Railways due to a typo in the date of birth mentioned in her job application [Shanta Sonawane v. Union of India & Anr]..In doing so, a division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and MM Sathaye underscored that employers should ensure that such minor mistakes due to disabilities do not lead to the loss of job opportunities for persons with disabilities..The Court added that laws for the welfare of persons with disabilities should not merely remain in the statute book. Rather the spirit of the legislation should be applied by authorities showing appropriate sensitivity and flexibility, the Court said..“This case of a visually impaired candidate illustrates how administrative apathy can defeat the benefits of the legislation enacted to support the persons with disabilities ... Individuals such as the Petitioner, who are 100% visually impaired, cannot be expected to stand on equal footing with other candidates in terms of usual activities. Rejecting the applications and then refusing to remedy the mistakes even within a reasonable time solely because of these errors, would contravene the principle of equality. Employers should ensure that minor mistakes due to disabilities do not lead to serious consequences such as loss of job opportunity itself," the Court observed in its February 27 judgment..The Court proceeded to set aside an order of the Ministry of Railways to cancel the candidacy of the 31-year-old visually impaired woman..The woman had approached the Railways Recruitment Cell for the post of Assistant in the Railways in 2019. Her application was rejected, after which she approached the High Court.While considering the case, the High Court directed the Railway Recruitment Cell to keep one post vacant for the assistant’s post. The authorities later told the Court that the woman's candidature could not be accepted due to the error in her form regarding her date of birth which wrongly mentioned the year "1992" instead of "1993."The woman argued that being visually impaired, she had sought help in filling out the job application from a stranger at an internet café, who made the inadvertent error..The High Court noted that the rigid stand taken by the Railways Ministry was unduly oppressive and harsh and violated the objective of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act.“Respondents (Railways authorities) do not contend the mistake by the Petitioner was deliberate or intended to achieve a certain end. By refusing to acknowledge that the case of the petitioner, a person with benchmark disability, (which) needs to be handled with sensitivity and flexibility in the procedure, the Ministry have failed to discharge its obligation under the Act of 2016," the Court said.It proceeded to set aside the rejection of the woman's candidature and directed the Railway Recruitment Cell to process her candidature for the Assistant’s post within six weeks..[Read Judgment]