Jharkhand High Court has directed the state government to provide disabled-friendly infrastructure in all courts, quasi-judicial bodies and tribunals within six months.

A bench of Jharkhand Chief Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra and Justice Rajesh Shankar in its order issued on September 29 (uploaded on October 5) said the state was mandated under law to provide such facilities within five years from the notification of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2017.

As the above deadline has already expired, such facilities have to be provided within six months, the bench ordered.

“In that view of the matter, we allow this writ petition (PIL) and hereby direct that since the five years have already elapsed, the said facilities shall be provided in any court, tribunal, authority, commission or any other judicial or quasi-judicial body, within a period of six months, as undertaken by Rajiv Ranjan, learned advocate-general appearing for the state,” the court said in its order.

The order was passed on a PIL petition filed by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties’ (PUCL) Jharkhand chapter, seeking a direction to the state government to furnish a minimum of two wheelchairs in all courts and judicial and quasi-judicial forums.

The plea also sought the implementation of suitable infrastructure to accommodate differently-abled individuals in accordance with Sections 12 (access to justice) and 45 (time limit) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.

In June this year, the high court had directed the state to take appropriate instructions and file counter-affidavits. However, since no affidavit was filed by the state, the court concluded that the government had no objection to the appeal made by the petitioner.

“The chief secretary of the state of Jharkhand (Sukhdev Singh) shall execute our order by issuing appropriate directions to the department in charge of providing the infrastructure and other facilities to the differently abled persons,” the court ordered.

Activists fighting for the cause of the physically challenged welcomed the high court order but felt that a lot more needed to be done to ensure an accessible barrier-free environment in the judiciary.

“An accessible barrier-free environment is a very important step towards fulfilling the rights of people with disabilities to participate in all areas of community life, especially in the judiciary. We welcome this order of the high court. However, in the real sense, a lot more needs to be done to ensure barrier-free access for the hearing- and vision-impaired in the judiciary,” said Jamshedpur-based Arun Kumar Singh, who has
been espousing the cause of the physically challenged through the Rashtriya Viklang Manch.

He said they would like the judiciary to ensure that sign language and the use of braille are accepted in legal proceedings for the hearing- and vision-impaired.