Vilas Murlidhar Gangurde and Ors. v. the State of Maharashtra Thr the Secretary and Ors.
Case brief
What is this about?
disability certificate re-verification; UDID card validity; benchmark disability 40%; RPwD Act 2016 S.2(r) S.2(s) S.34 S.56 S.57 S.59 S.91 S.102; Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules 2017 Rules 17-20; Maharashtra State RPwD Rules 2024 Rule 8(2) 8(3); Zilla Parishad teachers suspension; moral turpitude; compulsory retirement; departmental enquiry; Article 14 arbitrariness; Article 226 writ; BERA hearing impairment reassessment; Swavlamban portal UDID; GR 16.06.2025; GR 09.10.2025; one-time measure; fraudulent availing of disability benefits; FCI v. Jagdish Balaram Bahira; State of U.P. v. Ravindra Kumar Sharma; Ram Prakash Kharlwa (Rajasthan HC); J.J. Hospital Appellate Medical Board; Ali Yavar Jung National Institute expert opinion; Annexure X district-wise verification data; 120-day timeline; apology affidavit voluntary retirement.
What did the court decide?
All writ petitions partly allowed: impugned suspension orders, stoppage of salaries, FIR-registration directions, cancellations of Approvals/Shalarth IDs, disciplinary and transfer orders issued during the re-verification exercise quashed; the State's medical re-verification approved as a one-time measure subject to special Medical Boards; category-wise post-re-assessment framework laid down (retirees exempt with full retirement benefits; proven bogus-certificate holders and 0-10% cases face show-cause/enquiry/compulsory retirement; 11-39% cases lose PwD benefits); non-Medical-Board tests discarded with fresh Board reference; refusal of examination punishable by suspension at 50% pay and, if persisted, 50% retirement dues; completion within 120 days; apology-cum-voluntary-retirement exit route; future Swavlamban-portal UDID and recruitment-scrutiny safeguards; errant doctors liable to disciplinary action/FIR; pending Interim Applications disposed of.