Early Times Report
Jammu, Apr 6: Bringing down the curtain on a decade-old public interest litigation concerning facilities for blind students in Jammu and Kashmir, a Division Bench of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh Comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal has closed the proceedings after the government reported substantial compliance with the issues raised in the petition, while granting liberty to the petitioner to re-approach the court if the need arises in future.
The PIL was filed by Golden Heartz Foundation, which had sought a writ of mandamus for improving infrastructure in schools for blind students at Roop Nagar, Jammu. The petition had prayed for hostel facilities, extracurricular activities, study material, specialised computer software, separate accommodation for female students, and the establishment of two schools for blind children in every district of Jammu and Kashmir with boarding and lodging facilities. It had also sought educational avenues for such students up to 12th standard and beyond, besides special recruitment for eligible candidates suffering from total blindness or blindness above 75 per cent.
The matter had remained pending for over a decade, during which several orders were passed by the court from time to time. When the case was taken up, Senior AAG Monika Kohli, assisted by Sagira Jaffer, placed reliance on a compliance report dated May 28, 2025, filed by the Social Welfare Department, and submitted that the grievances projected in the PIL had been substantially redressed.
According to the compliance report, the government has prioritised the Unique Disability ID Project under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, and by March 2025, over two lakh persons with disabilities in J&K had been registered under the UDID portal. The report further stated that 2,832 motorised tricycles and scooties were distributed during 2023-24, 500 high-end wheelchairs were provisioned for 2024-25, and monthly assistance was being extended to 1,29,132 persons with disabilities under different schemes. It was also placed on record that 12,573 prosthetic aids worth Rs 5.95 crore were distributed through ALIMCO during 2023-24.
In view of the compliance report, counsel for the petitioner, Mr. Shanum Gupta, appearing vice Mr. Ankesh Chandel, submitted that the proceedings may be closed for the present, with liberty to file a separate petition in case any fresh cause of action arises. The suggestion was accepted by the respondents as well.
Accepting the stand of the parties, the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal disposed of the petition and closed the proceedings in the above terms, while preserving the petitioner’s liberty to return to the court if circumstances so warrant. (JNF) |
