The Division Bench of the Delhi High Court in the case of George Abraham vs Union of India & Ors.consisting of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasadconstituted a High Powered Committee to offer practical solutions to ensure access to financial services for the visually challenged persons along with other ancillary issues.
Facts
This petition was an application on behalf of the Petitioner, a visually challenged person, seeking directions for appointment of a Committee to ensure access to financial services for the visually challenged persons. The difficulties which are being faced by visually challenged persons have been brought to the notice of this Court and there are other connected writ petitions also arising out of the same issue and other related issues.
Contentions Made
While the matter was being argued, learned counsel for the parties very fairly stated before this Court that a Committee must be constituted to look into all the problems which are being faced by visually challenged persons in order to provide them with a proper solution. The solution that must be arrived at in the instant matter certainly requires experts from the field of information technology and, therefore, IIT, Delhi was also requested to furnish the name of two senior professors to be members of the Committee.
Observations of the Court
The Bench noted that it was unfortunate that judicial intervention was required in such matters when measures to ensure ease of accessibility for the specially abled should be implemented in a proactive manner. However, it hoped that the Committee will take these observations into consideration while arriving at a feasible solution.
Judgment
A High Powered Committee was constituted by the Court to look into all the grievances raised in this application and the connected writ petitions to offer practical solutions in the matter. The scope of the work of the Committee shall not be confined only to the issues raised in the present writ petitions but other ancillary issues as well. Mr. George Abraham (the Petitioner in W.P.(C) 694/2020) and Mr. Amar Jain, Member of Blind Graduates Forum of India (the Petitioner in W.P.(C) 64/2019) will also be the members of the Committee. Union of India shall also nominate an officer to be a Member of the Committee. The Committee is to consist of the following persons: -
- Prof. M. Balakrishnan, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Delhi. (Chairman)
- Prof. Kolin Paul, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Delhi.
- Ms. Manisha Mishra, (GM), Department of Regulation.
- Mr. Tushar Bhattacharya, (DGM) Department of Supervision.
- Mr. George Abraham
- Mr. Amar Jain, Member of Blind Graduates Forum of India
- Officer to be nominated by the Union of India.
The Director, IIT Delhi was requested to provide all logistic support to the Committee constituted under the Chairmanship of Prof. M Balakrishnan.The Committee was granted three months’ time to submit the Status Report. It was listed to be heard on 25.11.2022.
Case:George Abraham vs Union of India & Ors.
Citation: W.P.(C) 694/2020, etc.
Bench: Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, Justice Subramonium Prasad
Decided on: 29th July 2022
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