Kerala High Court asks Central government to formulate protocol for employing persons with Hepatitis B

The Kerala High Court recently suggested that the Central Government should formulate a protocol for employing persons infected with Hepatitis B [Shaikh Zakir Ahmed v The Fertilizer and Chemicals Travancore Limited]..The High Court was considering a petition filed by a person who claimed that he was denied job at a public sector undertaking (PSU) solely because he was suffering from Hepatitis B.The petitioner had applied for the post of Assistant (General) at Kerala's largest PSU, Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd (FACT).He asserted that he met all the essential qualifications and credentials required for the job but he was been denied the same only because he was battling Hepatitis-B virus..Justice Devan Ramachandran opined that denying the petitioner a job opportunity for the said reason would not be in tune with the present times and would be against the "collective conscience of the civilized world".He wondered why a person suffering from Hepatitis B was discriminated against when the Central Government had issued protocols for persons suffering from HIV infection."If Public Sector Undertakings are allowed to deal with candidates in this manner, it will lead to a situation where any of them can be denied opportunities solely on account of the attributes of the disease, but without any assessment of its effect on the person concerned,” the Court said..Pertinently, the Court found that the medical report which declared the petitioner to be unfit for the job, did not disclose why Hepatitis B would make a person ineligible for the job.Therefore, Justice Ramachandran allowed the petition with a direction to FACT to subject the petitioner to a further medical examination and to also take the opinion of an independent medical board attached to a government hospital within two months.Taking note of the contentions by the Deputy Solicitor General of India, the High Court suggested the Central Government to formulate a protocol for employing persons infected with Hepatitis B..The petitioner was represented by advocates Arun Chandran and Harimohan.The respondents were represented by advocates M Gopikrishnan Nambiar, K John Mathai, Joson Manavalan, Kuryan Thomas, Paulose C Abraham, Raja Kannan and Jai Mohan..[Read Judgment]