Authority: High Court at Calcutta (Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction Appellate Side)
Order Date: 16 September 2026
Case Overview
- Petitioner: Antim Barik, a person with 50 % hearing impairment, filed writ petition (WPA/19885/2026) against Union of India and others, including State Bank of India (SBI), alleging that his application for the post of Junior Associate was rejected without consideration of his disability.
- Respondents: Union of India & Ors., represented by Advocate Subrata Kumar Sinha for SBI; Advocate Debanjan Chatterjee for Union of India.
- Recruitment timeline: Online registration for Junior Associate position was open from 6 August 2025 to 26 August 2025. Eligibility clause 2(D) required a disability certificate dated on or before the last date of registration.
- Documents submitted:
- Temporary disability certificate dated 19 March 2025 (within registration period) – deemed temporary.
- Permanent disability certificate dated 25 March 2026 (later than recruitment deadline).
- SBI produced a verification form showing the petitioner’s handwritten admission that the temporary certificate made him ineligible.
- The court referred to notification SO‑1338(E) dated 12 March 2024 issued under Section 56 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, which permits reservation for hearing impairment only on the basis of a permanent certificate; temporary certificates are acceptable only for visual impairment.
Final Outcome
- The writ petition was dismissed with no order as to costs. The court affirmed that the petitioner did not possess a permanent disability certificate within the stipulated time, and therefore SBI’s rejection was upheld.
Topics: Disability Reservation, Bank Recruitment