Institute of Legal and Management Studies

On 11^th October, Mission Accessibility celebrated its third annual day, by curating a conference at the Bombay High Court, Goa Bench. The conference was organized by the Goa State Commission for Persons with Disabilities, Goa State Legal Services Authority, the Goa High Court Bar Association and the Department of Empowerment for Persons with Disabilities, Government of India.

The keynote speaker was Justice Abhay S. Oka, retired judge, Supreme Court of India. In his address, Justice Oka stressed that the provisions contained in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, are a manifestation of the fundamental rights guaranteed to such persons under Articles 14 and 21. Notably, he stated that the Supreme Court should give serious consideration to giving priority hearing to cases that relate to the RPwD Act. He further stated that the penal provisions under the Act need to be strengthened to make them serve as a real deterrent. Further, Section 12[4] of the RPwD Act requires courts and documents to be accessible. He argued that steps should be taken to make all courts across the country compliant with this mandate. He also argued for a need to review whether sufficient incentives have been provided to the private sector to incentivize the hiring of persons with disabilities.

Justice Valmiki Menezes, judge, Bombay High Court at Goa, urged all district judges to ensure that reservation rosters for persons with disabilities are correctly maintained; that courts are made more suitable for those with hearing impairments and that there is sensitivity and empathy in dealing with such persons.

Mission Accessibility's Co-Founders, Advocates Rahul Bajaj and Amar Jain, told the audience about the dozens of cases handled by the organization in the last 3 years, most of them on a pro bono and low bono basis. They stressed that issues commonly faced by such persons include lack of proper posting and transfer, non-implementation of reservation and inaccessibility of physical and digital environments.

A panel discussion was held on the state of disability rights law in the country. Senior Advocate SK Rungta, Advocate Kanchan Pamnani and Deputy Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Mr. Praveen Prakash Ambashta, were the panelists. Mr. Rungta stated that, since he started practicing in 1982, there has been a sea change in the perception of lawyers and judges towards disability rights law. He recalled a case he had argued as a young 27 year old lawyer which related to probating a will where the testator, witnesses and the lawyer [Mr. Rungta] were all blind. The judge had castigated him for taking up a case as a blind lawyer, as she thought that he would not have been able to go through the papers due to his disability and therefore should not have signed the vakalatnama. He stated that, since those dark days, we have come far ahead.

From a comparative standpoint, he argued that Indian law is ahead of most jurisdictions, given that we have a strong reservation quota and reasonable accommodation provisions which the courts routinely give more strength to. Advocate Kanchan Pamnani argued that she foresees a lot of disability rights litigation and policymaking work in the times to come. It must be ensured that the lawyers arguing such cases have a strong understanding of the law, she stressed. Mr. Ambashta argued that, in the office of the CCPD, initially cases used to be on more tangible issues, such as reservations and transfers. But increasingly, they focus on issues connected with accessibility and violation of dignity, such as the reference to those with intellectual disability as mentally retarded.

The event also saw delivery of Mission Accessibility's annual awards. In the category of accessible trailblazer, private sector, the award was given to Khadija Khan from the Print for her coverage on disability rights issues. In the category of budding disability rights champion, the award was handed down to Mr. Yatin Panchal.

Mr. Guruprasad Pawaskar, State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Goa, spoke about the purpose and object behind purple fest. Other speakers included Mr. S. Govindaraj, Advocate Anchal Bhatheja, Ms. Ayushmita Samal and Ms. Tanvi Mohandas, each of whom addressed important themes connected with the subject of the conference.