Srinagar, Apr 19: In a first of its kind, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has appointed visually-impaired lawyer as government advocate in the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to represent the specially-abled persons.
Secretary to Government Anchal Sethi has issued an order in this regard. As per an order, Suraj Singh, who is a visually-impaired lawyer, was appointed as Government Advocate in High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Sethi confirmed Suraj Singh’s appointment and said that the government has taken such a decision after receiving a recommendation from him (Suraj Singh).
He added that the government wanted to give representation to the specially-abled persons and thus decided that some advocate from the government side, who is also specially-abled, would represent them. “Suraj, being a visually-impaired lawyer, was appointed from the government side to represent the specially-abled persons,” he said.
Sethi also added that Advocate Suraj has problems for appearing in court also, “thus, we will give him some junior counsel to assist him.”
He added that Suraj had submitted recommendations to the government, which was acted upon and subsequently an order was issued in this regard.
Pertinently, the government in an order said that the appointment shall be for a period of one year which shall be extended subject to satisfactory performance of the advocate and production of documents related to eligibility prescribed in notification SRO 98 of 2016.
Notably, Suraj Singh has been practicing before the Jammu wing of the High Court since 2011 and was sitting on a dharna (sit-in protest) for the past few weeks, seeking enforcement of the rights recognised under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act of 2016.
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