New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday told the Centre’s counsel that judges are to protect people who need the protection of the court while stressing on having a standard operating procedure (SOP) for trouble-free access for persons with disability to airports across the country.
The apex court said everybody should be similarly treated provided there is a level playing field and when there is no level playing field, the law has to supplant that deficiency. A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and comprising justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, was hearing a plea filed by a wheelchair-bound woman, who faced difficulties at Kolkata airport on January 30.
The CJI queried additional solicitor general (ASG) Vikramjit Banerjee, who was representing the Centre, “You are justifying this that you told her (a woman wheelchair-bound passenger) to stand up for screening (in a security area in the airport).... She said 'I cannot stand, I am a wheelchair bound passenger'”.
Banerjee urged to examine the CCTV sequence and stressed that the entire incident is on the CCTV, so that the court can see the sequence of what happened. The petitioner’s counsel mentioned the accessibility guidelines and added that there should be training, and there are some gaps due to which people like her client are being asked to stand up, and added the Centre's focus should be on SOP and not about a particular incident.
Banerjee said the government will put the SOP on record and they do not want any inconvenience to be caused to the wheelchair-bound passengers. CJI told the ASG that the petitioner is here not regarding her personal experience but she wants SOP for all people like her.
