New Delhi, Oct 14 (IANS): The Delhi High Court has criticised the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) for its exclusion of deaf and hard of hearing individuals from the reservation process for teaching positions.

A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula showed displeasure over KVS ignoring relevant statutes and government notifications in their December 2022 recruitment advertisement.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) challenging the advertisement, along with a suo motu public interest litigation on the matter.

Justice Sharma expressed his disappointment and said: "I don't understand why we are hostile towards these people. I never thought Kendirya Vidyalayas would be doing all this. I feel sorry for the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan."

He said that his personal connection to the institution as a product of Kendriya Vidyalaya, made the issue even more meaningful to him.

Upon knowing that recruitment had already occurred following the advertisement, the court said that it would direct KVS to address the backlog of vacancies for persons with disabilities, pointing out the need for adherence to government regulations.

KVS contended that an internal committee had recommended against hiring a specific category of persons with disabilities. However, the court said that as the Central government had not granted KVS an exemption from applying the disability quota, they were not entitled to disregard it.

The court also underscored the importance of KVS adhering to the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016 and the government's notification.