Explore all options before sacking employee claiming disability: SC

New Delhi, December 23

In a disabled-friendly verdict, the Supreme Court has ruled that all possible alternatives must be explored before dismissing from service a person claiming disability in disciplinary proceedings.

Duty sacrosanct

The duty of providing reasonable accommodation to persons with disabilities is sacrosanct. Supreme Court

A Bench of Justice DY Chandrachud also said: “… there are accepted defences to this principle. The well-recognised exception to this rule is that the duty to accommodate must not cause undue hardship or impose a disproportionate burden on the employer — the interpretation of these concepts may vary in each jurisdiction.”

It set aside a 2018 judgment of the Gauhati High Court that restored inquiry proceedings against CRPF Assistant Commandant Ravinder Kumar Dhariwal who had pleaded mental disability in disciplinary proceedings. A person with a disability was entitled to protection under the new law as long as the disability was one of the factors for his discriminatory act leading to such an inquiry, it said.

“The appellant is also entitled to the protection… of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 in the event he is found unsuitable for his current employment duty. While re-assigning the appellant to an alternate post, should it become necessary, his pay, emoluments and conditions of service must be protected,” the top court said.

Providing reasonable accommodation to such employees is “sacrosanct” as the “one-size fits all approach” can never be used to identify disability which was an “individualistic conception”, it noted. — TNS