News

Volume 2 Issue 21 - November 01, 2004

Supreme Court issues notice on non-implementation of Section 43 of PWD Act

DNIS News Network - The Supreme Court asks States and UTs to respond to a PIL that promises to be a significant development for the disability sector.

In what is seen as a significant development for the disability movement, the Supreme Court has issued notices to all the State governments and Union Territories, and has asked them to respond to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in the Court.

The PIL, filed by Salil Chaturvedi, questions the government's non-implementation of Section 43 of the Persons with Disabilities Act. The Section states that all governments and authorities shall make provisions for providing preferential allotment of land, at concessional rates, for disabled people, for residential and non-residential purposes. Most governments and authorities have not implemented this Section, and it is this that the PIL seeks to redress.

"This is a big step forward," feels Prashant Bhushan, a leading Public Interest lawyer in the Supreme Court who is fighting this case, "in our fight to provide greater facilities and accessibility for persons with disabilities."