Use 'differently abled' instead of 'disabled': Delhi High Court while ordering JNU to allot hostel to visually impaired student

The Delhi High Court on Monday ordered the Jawaharlal Nehru University to provide hostel accommodation free of cost to a visually disabled student named Sanjeev Kumar Mishra who is pursuing Master’s degree at the university [Sanjeev Kumar Mishra v Jawaharlal Nehru University & Ors]..Justice C Hari Shankar said that as per the hostel manual, JNU cannot deny hostel accommodation to any of its differently abled students.“The petitioner is, therefore, entitled, as of right, to hostel accommodation, provided by the JNU within its campus, free of cost, with all other entitlements to which a differently abled student is entitled under the law and the policies of the JNU, till completion of his Masters degree course in Sociology. The JNU is directed to provide, within a week from the pronouncement of this judgment, all such facilities to the petitioner,” the Court ordered.Pertinently, the Court said that the appropriate term to describe persons with disability would be 'differently abled' and not 'disabled'. "The Right of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPWD Act) and all laws which strive to provide support to a person suffering from a disability, merely seek to neutralize the disability, so that the person’s ability matches those of the rest of his peers, and they stand on an equal footing. This is the heart of the theory of equal opportunity, which pervades Article 14 and, indeed, the Constitution as a whole. It is because of this, that the more appropriate term to use would be 'differently abled', rather than 'disabled'," the Court said..The student Sanjeev Kumar Mishra moved the High Court seeking directions to JNU to allot him hostel room. It was JNU’s case that Mishra was pursuing a second Master’s level course and the hostel manual does not entitle him to accommodation..The Court considered the case and ruled in Mishra’s favour.It said that no empirical data has been provided by the JNU to indicate that it would be unreasonable to provide hostel accommodation to the petitioner and without any such data, JNU’s stand cannot sustain..In a detailed order, Justice Hari Shankar further said that persons with disabilities are no different from others and, therefore, the more appropriate term to use for such persons is ‘differently abled’."Given the means to tide over the difference, a differently abled person no longer remains differently abled, and becomes a part of the homogeneous human whole. It is then that, the difference in ability being neutralized, the individual is able to rise to his full stature, and invoke his innate talents and faculties to their fullest extent. In such a situation, the person who was otherwise regarded as “disabled” often equals, if not excels, his more redoubtable peers in the profession that he pursues. Mr. Rahul Bajaj [lawyer representing petitioner Sanjeev Kumar Mishra] is a luminescent example," the Court said. .Advocate Rahul Bajaj appeared for petitioner Sanjeev Kumar Mishra.JNU was represented through Central Government Standing Counsel (CGSC) Monika Arora as well as advocates Subhrodeep Saha and Kushal..[Read Judgment]