This week, we had a total of 4 hearings.
On Monday, we had 3 cases listed.
The first was in the Delhi High Court, on the issue of incorporation of accessibility features in all OTT content. We were able to achieve a number of small victories in this hearing. For one thing, the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting was directed to expedite the formulation of guidelines in this regard, with the concerned Joint Secretary being directed to be personally present in case of a failure to do so. Second, the Court also put on the table the possibility of stopping OTTs from broadcasting any content so long as it is not accessible. Third, it directed Jio Studios and T Series, 2 of the biggest producers of OTT Content, to ensure that all their future offerings are born accessible.
Listed on Monday was also a case which raises the question of the Government’s obligation to provide housing to blind college students who do not have any other roof over their head. This hearing was a procedural one, in which we were given time to respond to the Delhi Government’s status report.
The third case listed on Monday relates to our battle to ensure that those with Specific Learning Disability are given the benefit of reservation in the Civil Services Exams – something which the Government has arbitrarily denied. The matter has been finally heard by CAT which reserved judgment on 25th August.
On Monday, the DoPT filed a misplaced and belated writ petition against two of CAT’s interim orders which was dismissed summarily by the Delhi High Court. All eyes are now on the CAT’s pending judgment.
On Wednesday, we appeared in the Calcutta High Court on behalf of blind and low vision teachers who are staring at the prospect of job loss by virtue of the en masse cancellation of appointments of teachers in West Bengal by the Supreme Court in April. This is because of the gross irregularities that were found in the 2016 State Level Selection Test. In this case, we are aggrieved by the fact that the number of vacancies in the 2025 exam for visually impaired teachers have been substantially reduced and especially in subjects that such teachers typically teach. The High Court issued notice in the matter and renotified it to 16th September.