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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Jaipur, Feb 23 (PTI): Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Kirodi Lal Meena on Sunday once again claimed that his phone is still being tapped and he is under surveillance.
"I am still saying my phone is being tapped and the CID is following me," he said while speaking at an event in Sanchore.
The claim comes days after Minister of State (MoS) for Home Jawahar Singh Bedham denied the phone tapping allegations in the Rajasthan Assembly, stating Meena's phone was not tapped.
"I received a notice (from the party). I told them that when I used to protest in the past, the officers during the previous government would monitor me. They would track where I was going, what I was doing and which movement I was participating in. They used to tap my phone. I have always said that my phone is being tapped and there is a CID following me," Meena said.
"The same officers are still in their positions. Those who used to tap my phone and follow me are still there. I never paid attention to it but now it should stop," he added.
Meena reiterated that "my phone is still being tapped" and the "CID is still following me".
"Yes, I made a mistake. I should have raised the issue on the right platform of the Bharatiya Janata Party, but sometimes the situation gets tangled. So, I spoke up," he said.
Meena further said there were scams in the previous government.
"A huge scam took place in Jal Jeevan Mission. Work was given without any tender. I raised the issue and some engineers were suspended, some officers were arrested and a contractor was also arrested," he added.
The opposition Congress had raised the issue of phone tapping. Responding to it, Bedham had last week denied the allegations.
Responding to Meena's fresh statement, BJP spokesperson Laxmikant Bharadwaj said the government has already cleared in the assembly that no phone of any elected representative, including Kirodi Meena, was being tapped.