News

Volume 8 Issue 2 - January 15, 2011

S.C. warns states of contempt action on Disabilities Act

D.N.I.S. News Network, India: The Supreme Court has warned of contempt proceedings against states which fail to provide sufficient access facilities for disabled persons as mandated under the Disability Act of 1995.

The apex court said, “We make it clear that if the states do not enforce the National Building Code of India as well as the guidelines issued by the Central Public Works Department (C.P.W.D.), we would be taking contempt proceedings, for which the petitioner(s) could move before this court”.

A three-judge bench of Chief Justice S. H. Kapadia, Justices K. S. Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar gave the warning after senior counsel Colin Gonzalves for petitioner Rajiv Raturi in a P.I.L. complained that though several guidelines have been framed under the Act for the benefit of physically disabled persons, neither the Centre nor the states showed interest in implementing the same.