News

Volume 4 Issue 4 - February 15, 2006

Mumbai H.C. restrains state from filling up post after a blind candidate alleges discrimination

D.N.I.S. News Network – Mumbai High Court has stalled recruitment for the post of clerk-cum-typist, reserved for visually impaired in the Charity Commissioner’s office, after a shocking allegation by a blind candidate that he was humiliated during the selection process when he was asked to read from a newspaper and count raised fingers of a board member.

Taking serious note of the incident, Mumbai High Court has restrained Maharashtra government from filling the post. The court asked the government to file a reply to the allegation made by the petitioner and by way of interim relief granted a stay on the recruitment to the post.

In case the post had been filled, the court held that it would depend on the outcome of the petition. The petitioner, Pankaj Choudhary, claimed that he had topped the test but the way he was treated in the interview was "highly discriminatory and violated the basic human dignity".

The petitioner, employed with Helen Keller Institute for the Deaf and the Blind on a part-time basis, said that during the interview he was asked certain embarrassing questions that had no relevance to his abilities to perform the job. Choudhary said he had done a course in computer and had passed examination conducted by Maharashtra State Council of Examination in English and Marathi typewriting.