Dear Kanchan, Greetings! I read your article for Combat Law with great enthusiasm. I always wondered what it takes for a blind person to be accepted in the legal fraternity. I have learnt a lot from your experiences that you shared in the article.
I am training a young blind law graduate of Delhi University who practices under me in various legal forums in Delhi. Often the absence of escort/reader becomes a road block. Since he serves as my associate, it becomes difficult to convince clients in the beginning that the blind advocate would be able to serve their interest and they often insist on my presence or of some sighted associate. But I think with passage of time and with one or two positive experiences the clients would fall in line. I am also training him to sit for the judiciary examination. With our persistent efforts as AICB's advocacy Committee under the leadership of Sh. MK Rastogi, the Delhi High Court had in the past reserved the post of civil judges and MMs in lower judiciary for the blind and low vision candidates too! But till date we haven't found any blind law graduate coming forward with this determination that he would like to sit for the exam. Due to non-availability of Blind Law graduates, various posts in judiciary are lying vacant. Also there are few other states who do not pay regard to the reservation provisions and still hold the view that blind can't be judges. Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand have openly refused to accept the reservation provision in judiciary for the blind. This is despite the fact that the the post if identified for the blind in the identification list of the ministry. I have AP's refusal letter with me while Jharkhand has openly declared in the recent recruitment advertisement that the reservation is not given to the disabled on this post. We lack on both ends i.e. demand and supply. Dearth of competitive law graduates Versus Vacant posts/denial of reservation by Judiciary. I am interested to conduct a training programme of 5-6 months duration for the preparation of the judiciary exams for the blind. I have proposed to conduct such a programme but I need at least 10-20 young law graduates with good command on English language and good at communication skills. May be We would soon see the first Indian Blind Judge. warm regards, Subhash Chandra Vashishth, Advocate-Disability Rights Member-AICB's Advocacy Committee Mobile : +91-11-9811125521 To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
