BENGALURU: Noting that a person with disabilities cannot claim the allotment of a site from urban development authorities only because he qualifies as a person with disabilities (PwD), the Karnataka High Court said they must apply for it in the prescribed form and in answer to a notification calling for applications, as per the Karnataka Urban Development Authorities (KUDA) Act read with KUDA Rules, and that registration on payment of Rs 600 is not an application.
The court also held that though Section 37(c) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, provides for 5 per cent reservation, it requires the appropriate government and local authorities to issue notifications, making schemes in favour of persons with benchmark disabilities. The said notification was issued on April 18, 2026; hence, it is from that date that the reservation is 5 per cent.
Justice Suraj Govindaraj passed the order while allowing a petition filed in 2015 by the Mandya Urban Development Authority (MUDA) challenging the order dated August 8, 2013, passed by the State Commission for Persons with Disability, on a complaint filed by P Chandrashekar from Mandya district.
The complainant approached the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities on June 26, 2013, to allot a site on the ground that he is a person with disabilities, in a layout of 2,100 sites formed by MUDA.
The commissioner allowed the complaint, holding that in terms of Section 43 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, MUDA, while allotting sites, was required to reserve not less than 3 per cent of the total sites for PwD.
Such reservation not having been made, MUDA had violated Section 43, consequently infringing the rights of PwD, the Commissioner said, while directing MUDA to allot a site, as well as reserve the required percentage of sites to persons with disabilities.
Against this order, MUDA approached the high court, which quashed the order of the commissioner as well as complaint. However, the court reserved liberty to the complainant to apply for allotment as and when a notification is issued for such allotment by MUDA. While considering the application of the complainant, MUDA shall take into account his seniority in terms of the registration made by him on August 22, 2007.
