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Context - For visually impaired litigants, the Delhi High Court has asked the Delhi government to provide court documents in Braille script.

Details

• The Delhi High Court stated that the ‘Right to justice authorises the parties with a communication mode and language that they can interpret’.
• To protect the rights of visually impaired litigants, the Delhi High Court has asked the Delhi government to provide them with the court documents in Braille script.
• The High court stated that “It is required to make available all essential facilities to enable the recording of testimonies, arguments or opinions given by persons with disabilities in their preferred language and means of communication,”.

About Braille script

• Braille is a system of reading and writing by touch used by the blind.
• It consists of arrangements of dots that make up letters of the alphabet, numbers, and punctuation marks.
• Braille was first developed in the late 1820s by a young Frenchman named Louis Braille.
  • He created Braille by modifying a system of night writing which was intended for military use.

Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016

• The Act replaced the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act of 1995.
• It fulfils the obligations to the United National Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), to which India is a signatory.

Key Features of the Act

• The types of disabilities have been increased from 7 to 21 and the Central Government has the power to add more types of disabilities.
• Speech and Language Disabilities, Specific Learning Disabilities, and Acid Attack Victims have been added for the first time.
• Dwarfism and muscular dystrophy have been indicated as separate classes of specified disability.
• The New categories of disabilities also included three blood disorders; Thalassemia, Haemophilia, and Sickle Cell disease.
• The Governments take effective measures to ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy their rights equally with others.
• Benefits such as reservation in higher education, government jobs, reservation in the allocation of land, poverty alleviation schemes etc. for persons with benchmark disabilities.
• Every child with a benchmark disability between the age group of 6 and 18 years has the right to free education.
• Government-funded educational institutions, as well as government, recognized institutions have to provide inclusive education to children with disabilities.
• Strengthening Prime Minister's Accessible India Campaign to ensure accessibility in public buildings (both Government and private) in a prescribed time frame.
• Reservation in government jobs has been increased from 3% to 4% for certain persons or classes of persons with benchmark disabilities.
• The Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities and the State Commissioners act as regulatory bodies and Grievance Redressal agencies and also monitor the implementation of the Act.
• District-level committees are constituted by the State Governments to address local concerns of PwDs.
• Creation of National and State Fund to provide financial support to persons with disabilities.
• Strict penalties for offences committed against persons with disabilities and also for the violations of the provisions of the new law.
• Special Courts in each district handle cases concerning violations of the rights of PwDs.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/provide-court-documentsin-brailleto-visually-impaired-litigants-hc/article65308826.ece#:~:text=Credit%3A%20File%20Photo-,'Right%20to%20justice%20entitles%20the%20parties%20with%20a%20communication%20mode,court%20documents%20in%20Braille%20script.

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