HC directs govt to appoint five candidates with disabilities

The High Court has directed the government to appoint five candidates with disabilities, who qualified in the 34th BCS examination, in 60 days after receiving the copy of its order.

The bench of Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore and Justice AKM Shahidul Huq delivered the verdict on Sunday after hearing a writ petition filed by the candidates -- Mir Md Mosharaf Hossain, Abid Hossain, SM Zahidul Islam, Babul Chandra Das and Enayet Kabir.

The HC also declared illegal a part of a government decision keeping one percent quota reserved for the candidates with disabilities in the BCS cadre service, and class I and II government services.

According to the part of the 2012 decision, if adequate competent candidates are not available in the existing quota for class I and II government jobs, one percent of that quota would be fulfilled by the candidates with disabilities.

According to the HC directive, the one percent quota has to be fully reserved for the candidates with disabilities, said writ petitioners’ counsel Shafiqul Islam.

He told reporters that the Public Service Commission recommended that over 2,000 candidates of the 34th BCS should be appointed. But, among them, only three were with disabilities.

So, the five candidates filed the writ petition in 2015, seeking an order on the government to appoint them, said Shafiqul.