In Rajive Raturi vs. Union of India, Supreme Court to hear arguments on Accessible India Campaign

In Rajive Raturi vs. Union of India, the Apex Court on 27th February 2017  directed to place the matter for a hearing on the Government of India’s report on progress made with the Accessible India Campaign. The Government in it’s status report filed before the Court claimed that several Government buildings in 50 cities in India had been audited for compliance with accessibility norms, and funds had been released to retrofit these buildings for accessibility. Further, railway stations and airports had also been made accessible, and Government web sites were being made compliant to global accessibility standards. Advocates for the Petitioner’s, however, submitted that whereas guidelines had been set down for accessibility in the built environment, transportation and information / communication, the Government’s audits and follow up work was not done with reference to these guidelines. Further, the Government’s targets were miniscule when compared to the overall accessibility requirements in the country.

This matter is being argued for the petitioners by Senior Advocate Mr. Colin Gonsalves of the Human Rights Law Network, assisted by the Disability Law Initiative. Further arguments in this matter are likely to be heard by the Court in July 2017.