Mumbai: Expressing displeasure, the Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the Maharashtra government to make the state advisory board, constituted to frame policies under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, functional within a month “for God's sake”. The court also said it was alarming that the state government requires directives from the court to fulfil its statutory obligations.
The government constituted the board under the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act in 2018 but it has been non-functional since 2020 as posts of the non-officials members are vacant.
The court, on Wednesday, asked the government to inform a timeframe by when the vacancies would be filled and the board would be made functional. On Thursday, additional government pleader Abhay Patki told the court that the board would be made functional in 15 days.
“We will give you some more time than 15 days. For god's sake do it by then. We direct that the advisory board shall be constituted and made functional within a month from today,” a bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar said.
The HC had taken a suo motu (on its own) cognisance of the issue after it received an email from wheelchair-bound Karan Shah, 25, highlighting the inaccessibility of footpaths, by people similarly placed as him, due to closely placed bollards.
The judges remarked that had the government made the state advisory board functional, then courts would not be burdened with matters relating to the welfare of persons with disabilities. “We could have relegated this matter also to the board. It could have taken all measures,” the bench remarked.
The judges emphasised that the government should not wait for orders from court to implement laws, especially the reformative ones. “Can there be anything more alarming that for an Act the court has to issue directions. This is your (government) obligation. For this also you need directions?” the chief justice asked.
Advocate Jamshed Mistry who was appointed as amicus curiae (friend of the court) pointed put to the court that in July 2023, the Maharashtra government had informed the Supreme Court, which was hearing a matter related to disabled persons, that the state advisory board was constituted.
It is true that the board was set up in 2018 but it is non-functional since 2020 due to vacancies, the court said. “What is the use of merely constituting a board when it is not functional? We hope and expect that within 30 days the board shall be made functional in all respects,” the court said while keeping the matter for hearing on August 14.
