Capable even if disabled (Blind judges in Indian judiciary)

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 Capable even if disabled (Blind judges in Indian judiciary)

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• American disability rights movement : When the Supreme Court of US, in 1927, upheld the forced sterilisation of a mentally infirm woman, the rights movement saw a dark phase unfold. The SC said it would save the State from wasting its energy on people who add no value.
• The Indian parallel : In January 2019, in the V. Surendra Mohan v. Union of India case, a dark parallel is unfolding now. The Court had to consider the 70% blind candidate, who had challenged the Tamil Nadu govt. policy of reserving Civil Judge posts only for people with blindness not more than 40-50%. The SC ruled in favour of the government.
• Logic by SC : The Court said that a judicial officer must possess a reasonable amount of sight and hearing to work properly. Impaired vision makes assessing the demeanour of witnesses impossible, and analysing evidence tough. How will a blind judicial officer record dying declarations and conduct enquiries?
• Four objections to the SC verdict :

1. There have been successful, blind judges. South African judge Zak Yacoob, US judge David Tatel, and Pakistani civil judge Yousaf Saleem are some examples.
2. Some object that blind judges will become too dependent on others. But the SC itself said in 2017 that "a lawyer can be equally effective in a wheelchair, given the right access to material he needs to discharge his duties". Blind people can write articles (the author is an example) and study computer science as well.
3. Capabilities of the disabled are grossly under-estimated by the SC in this verdict. But can ignorance be an excuse? No. Supposing a judge isn't blind, and suddenly goes blind. Then will he become useless, even if retraining and adaptive technology is provided?
4. Many fear that a lot of accommodation (adjustments) will be needed in the system for a blind judge. But if we are not willing to make such adjustments, can we really claim that we are committed to ensuring the constitutional promise of equality?

• A fundamental question : This SC verdict has the potential to destroy the confidence of thousands of handicapped people, who otherwise are sure of their potential to do things. Many will simply give up their desire to pursue judicial careers. This will be pure and simple discrimination.
• Summary : The recent SC verdict on blindness being an impediment in becoming judicial officers will severely hamper many otherwise capable people from becoming judges, something that's happening the world over already.

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