CJ orders deletion of ‘deaf, mute and blind’ from law

Law regarding differently-abled people to be reworded

LAHORE: Chief Justice Lahore High Court Syed Mansoor Ali Shah on Tuesday directed the Punjab government to delete the words “disabled, deaf, mute and blind from The Disabled Persons (Employment and Rehabilitation) Ordinance 1981.” He observed that these people needed to be given special importance under the law.

CJ Syed Mansoor Ali Shah issued this order on a petition seeking removal of the said words, adding it was improper to use them in terms of special persons.

The petitioner's counsel contended the use of such words was tantamount to damaging their respect in society. He said there was a need to delete such words from the law.

The counsel stated that the word “disabled” had been used more than 40 times in the impugned ordinance. At the same time, the words blind, deaf and mute, physically handicapped and mentally retarded were used for once to describe differently-abled people.

The government’s counsel did not oppose the petition, but did urge the court to let the government amend the ordinance instead of issuing a direct order for deletion of the objectionable words.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2018.