The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday remarked the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) for denying a female staff member a promotion to a higher post due to her HIV-AIDS condition. The court termed the act as a clear instance of discrimination.
A division bench including Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi made this observation while hearing a petition filed by the female CRPF staffer, who claimed she was being denied promotion despite fulfilling all other eligibility requirements due to her AIDS-related illness.
The court instructed that the matter be brought to the attention of the Additional Solicitor General of India and requested the law officer’s presence at the next hearing on March 6.
The counsel representing the respondents including the Union of India, CRPF and the Commandant, argued that a standing order was issued following the rule that a candidate must be in ‘shape one’ for promotion purposes.
“This case highlights clear instances of discrimination in the Central Reserve Police Force for the incumbents who are suffering from the disease known as HIV-AIDS,” said the Court during the proceedings.
As per the report, the counsel of the petitioner argued that the woman has been repeatedly denied promotion despite meeting all other eligibility criteria, except for the fact that she is suffering from a progressing infectious disease.
The petitioner challenged the validity of Standing Order Number 4/2008 and
Rule 5 of the CRPF Assistant Commandant (Ministerial) Recruitment Rules 2011, claiming that they contradict the provisions of the HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Control) Act, 2017, and the National HIV Counselling and Testing Guidelines 2024, the report added.
The court, in its order, noted that the standing orders and rules also violated Articles 14, 16 and 21 of the Constitution, as the petitioner was being denied promotion to a higher ministerial post based on a medical board decision dated February 3, last year, which stated that the petitioner was suffering from a more advanced stage of the disease.
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