Supreme Court awards Rs 1.25 crore to a CRPF constable medically invalidated after losing vision; Union failed to find him an alternate post
The question: Does Section 47 of the PwD Act, 1995 protect a serving force member who acquires a disability, despite a 2002 exemption notification for combatant personnel of paramilitary forces?
A CRPF constable (driver) was medically invalidated out of service after losing sight in one eye and suffering impaired vision in the other, and was given only Rs 15,000. The Single Judge ordered his reinstatement under Section 47 of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, and the Division Bench upheld it. The Supreme Court dismissed the Union's appeal but, since the respondent is now in his sixties, replaced reinstatement with a payment of Rs 1.25 crore.