By IANS
New Delhi : The Supreme Court has censured the Punjab government for being insensitive and apathetic to a visually impaired employee and has ordered his reinstatement within six weeks.
“The case highlights the highly insensitive and apathetic attitude harboured towards those unfortunate fellowmen who fall victim to some incapacitating disability,” a bench of Justice G.P. Mathur and Justice Aftab Alam said Thursday.
The case related to Bhagwan Dass, a lineman with the Punjab State Electricity Board, who began losing his eyesight while in service.
Apprehending that he would not be allowed to continue in the service, Dass sought voluntary retirement while pleading for giving a suitable job to his wife in his place.
The board, however, permitted him to retire, claiming that he himself had asked for it though it did not offer any job to his wife.
After Dass came to know of the law that a person cannot be sacked for his disability incurred during the service, Dass requested for his reinstatement, but the board turned the plea down.
Ordering Dass’ reinstatement, the apex court pulled up board authorities and said, “It was the duty of a superior officer to explain him the correct legal position and to tell him about his legal rights.”
“Instead of doing that, they threw him out of service by picking up a sentence from his letter,” the bench said.
“Government officers failed to perform their duty by not giving equal treatment to Bhagwan Dass.”
The apex court also emphasised the need to have a positive outlook towards the disabled as “what law permits to them is no charity or largesse but their right as equal citizen”.
“Dass requested to be retired but at the same time asked that his wife should be given a suitable job in his place. In our view, it is impossible to read that letter as a voluntary offer of retirement,” the court said.