CJI constitutes committee to conduct accessibility audit of SC premises
New Delhi (PTI): In a bid to remove the barriers to access, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud has constituted a committee headed by apex court judge Justice S Ravindra Bhat to conduct an audit of "physical and functional access" of the top court premises to make them disabled friendly.
The 'Supreme Court Committee on Accessibility' has been given a broad mandate to prepare and release a questionnaire for persons with disabilities, including the apex court employees, advocates, litigants and interns, who visit the top court premises to assess the nature and extent of problems they face.
According to a notice uploaded on the apex court website, the committee will prepare a report on the accessibility audit, result of the survey of persons with disability and recommendations/proposals geared towards removing the barriers to access.
"The Chief Justice of India has been pleased to constitute a committee namely the 'Supreme Court Committee on Accessibility' to conduct accessibility audit of physical as well as functional access to the Supreme Court chaired by Justice S Ravindra Bhat, Judge, Supreme Court of India," said the December 19 notice.
The notice said the other members of the committee include Dr Sanjay Jain, professor of National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, Shakti Mishra, librarian nominated from the apex court, V Sridhar Reddy, advocate nominated by the Supreme Court Bar Association and Nilesh Singit, independent accessibility expert nominated by the Centre for Disability Studies (NALSAR University of Law).
Additional registrar of the Supreme Court, Ajay Agrawal, is the member (secretary) of the committee.
As per the notice, the committee will conduct an accessibility audit of the top court premises and its functioning extending to both physical as well as technology accessibility.
It said one of the broad mandates of the committee is to carry out any other activity required to conduct the accessibility audit.
On November 24, in a bid to make the software used by the Supreme Court accessible to those visually impaired, Justice Chandrachud had, in the midst of a hearing, sought the assistance of senior lawyer S K Rungta and asked him how he follows written arguments and gets them converted into a braille document.
Rungta, who lost his vision at a very young age, was responding to the written submissions of some senior lawyers in a case related to the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission before a bench headed by the CJI.
Chandrachud had then said some changes have been made to the official website of the top court by making it accessible through audio captchas.
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Five to six opposition MLAs might cross over to Mahayuti in few months: NCP chief whip Anil Patil
Mumbai, Nov 24: There is unrest in the Maha Vikas Aghadi camp and its five to six MLAs might join the ruling Mahayuti in the next few months, claimed NCP chief whip Anil Patil, who has retained his Amalner assembly seat, on Sunday.
The MVA of Congress, NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) suffered a crushing blow in the Maharashtra assembly polls, winning only 46 of the state's 288 seats. By contrast, the BJP-led ruling coalition, which also has NCP and Shiv Sena as partners, bagged an impressive 230 seats.
“There is tremendous unrest among some NCP (SP), Congress and Sena (UBT) MLAs who have been re-elected. Those having good relations with us have expressed concerns over MVA’s massive defeat,” Patil told Marathi news channel ABP Majha.
If one wants development works in his constituency, it is good to be in power, said the legislator from Ajit Pawar’s party.
“The MVA MLAs feel their future is uncertain. It shouldn’t be a surprise if five to six MLAs cross over to the Mahayuti in the next four months,” he said.
In the results of the Maharashtra polls declared on Saturday, BJP won in 132 constituencies, while its partners Shiv Sena and NCP walked away with 57 and 41 seats, respectively.
From the MVA camp, Shiv Sena (UBT) bagged 20 seats followed by Congress’ 16 and 10 by NCP (SP).
