Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 10: In a significant judgment, Division Bench of the State High Court comprising Chief Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar and Justice Alok Aradhe has upheld the judgment passed by the Single Judge with the direction to the Minister Incharge Estates Department to take decision about allotment of Government accommodation to visually disabled lawyer within a period of four weeks.
After hearing Ahtsham Bhat, Government Advocate, appearing for State and Estates Department and Advocates S C Gupta and Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed appearing for visually disabled lawyer Suraj Singh, DB directed that Minister Incharge Estates shall take a decision in the matter in accordance with the observations made in the judgment and the interpretation given on the Regulation 4 (e) of J&K Estates Department (Allotment of Government Accommodation) Regulations, 2004.
“From the perusal of the file, it is evident that no decision has been taken by the Minister Incharge and merely signature has been put in the file. Therefore, we agree with the finding recorded by the Single Judge that no decision in the matter has been taken by the Minister Estates”, the DB said.
Advocate S C Gupta with Advocate S S Ahmed appearing for Advocate Suraj Singh relied upon a judgment of the Supreme Court titled “Jeeja Ghosh and Another Vs. Union of India and Ors” wherein the Apex Court while dealing with the scope and ambit of Section 44 of Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation ), Act 1995 has held that rights that are guaranteed to differently abled persons under the Act are founded on the sound principle of human dignity which is the core value of human right and is treated as a significant facet of right to life and liberty.
Advocate S C Gupta further submitted that right to life is given a purposeful meaning including right to live with dignity and human dignity is a constitutional value and a constitutional goal. “India is signatory of Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes right of every individual to basic human needs including access to adequate health care in the event of sickness and disability”, he added.
Follow our WhatsApp channel