Bombay HC Orders Maharashtra to Activate Advisory Board for Disabled

The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to activate its advisory board for disabled persons within a month. The board, required by the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, has been non-functional since 2020. The court criticized the government for needing directives to fulfill its statutory duties.

The Bombay High Court has mandated the Maharashtra government to make its advisory board for disabled persons operational within a month.

'For God's sake, do it by then,' stated the High Court sternly.

A division bench, comprising Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar, expressed dissatisfaction that the state government needed judicial intervention to fulfill statutory obligations. The government should proactively implement laws, especially reformative ones, they asserted.

Under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, the board was established in 2018 but has been inactive since 2020 due to unfilled positions. The High Court's directive follows a public interest litigation concerning inaccessible footpaths in Mumbai, which highlighted the board's inactivity.

Additional government pleader Abhay Patki assured that the board would be functional in 15 days, but the court provided a 30-day window and set the next hearing for August 14.

(With inputs from agencies.)