Bombay HC Denies Disabled CRPF Employee’s Plea For Promotion

A differently-abled assistant sub inspector’s (ASI) plea for promotion was dismissed by the Bombay high court. This ASI, of the central reserve police force (CRPF), who had been diagnosed with schizoaffective psychosis and had an 80 per cent mental disability, challenged the decision that excluded him from the list of promoted candidates.

"considering the fact that the respondents CRPF is a paramilitary force, it is all the more necessary that the medical eligibility conditions which are statutorily prescribed for promotion, shall have to be satisfied. If unfortunately, due to disability it is not possible for an employee to satisfy the benchmark, no inference can be drawn that the employee is discriminated and that the denial of promotion is only due to the disability”, the court held.

The court held that denial of promotion to a differently abled person who did not satisfy the medical criteria does not mean he was discriminated against due to his disability.

A division bench of Justice Rohit B Deo and Justice Vrushali V Joshi sitting at Nagpur dismissed a writ petition filed by a disabled CRPF employee alleging that he was discriminated against and denied promotion only due to his disability.