In Brief
This batch of cases examined whether persons with disabilities can receive reservation in promotions under The Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995. The Court held that the Indra Sawhney prohibition against reservation in promotion applies only to backward classes under Article 16(4), not to disability-based reservation under Article 16(1). Once a post is identified as suitable for persons with disabilities under Section 32, it must be reserved regardless of recruitment mode. The 2005 Office Memorandum limiting disability reservation was declared illegal. The three judgments—Union of India v. National Federation of the Blind (2013), National Federation of the Blind v. Sanjay Kothari (2015), and Rajeev Kumar Gupta v. Union of India (2016)—must be strictly followed by the Union and State Governments.
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