AIROnline 2024 SC 732

Supreme Court Of India

Hon'ble Judge(s): Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, J. B. Pardiwala, Manoj Misra , JJJ

(A) Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (49 of 2016) , S.40, S.41, S.42, S.43, S.44, S.45, S.46, S.89, S.100— Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules (2017) , R.15— Rights of persons with disability - Accessibility - Rules for - Validity - Several of the guidelines prescribed in Rule 15, appear to be recommendatory guidelines, under the garb of mandatory rules. - Rule 15(1) is ultra vires scheme and legislative intent of RPWD Act which creates a mechanism for mandatory compliance - Creating a minimum floor of accessibility cannot be left to the altar of "progressive realization". Legislature cannot abdicate essential legislative functions to the delegated authority. The legislature can entrust subsidiary or ancillary legislation to the delegate. However, before such delegation, the legislature should enunciate the policy and the principles for the guidance of the delegated authority. As a corollary, the delegated authority must carry out its rule-making functions within the framework of the law. The delegated legislation must be consistent with the law under which it is made and cannot go beyond the limits of policy and standards laid down in the law. Rule 15, in its current form, does not provide for non-negotiable compulsory standards, but only persuasive guidelines. While the intention of the RPWD Act to use compulsion is clear, the R....