Will not tolerate exclusion of any section of society from accessing public facility: HC

The observations by a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar came during the hearing of a PIL that claimed that most public facilities in the national capital were not disabled friendly.

During the hearing, Delhi Police said 22 of its new police stations are completely disabled friendly.

The submission was made by Delhi government's additional standing counsel Naushad Ahmed Khan.

Not accepting the claim, the bench asked if the lock-ups in the new police stations had disabled friendly toilets for the accused.

"Does Tihar have any disabled friendly toilets," the court also asked and told the police that its stations have to be disabled friendly not just for complainants, but also for the accused.

"We cannot tolerate any exclusion on any account. No exclusion at all on the basis of caste or colour or creed or any other criteria," the bench said and added that even juvenile homes, observation homes for the aged and women and other such establishments also need to be disabled friendly. The court termed as "unacceptable" the lack of access to public parks by the disabled and aged persons due to the narrow entry points and directed the authorities to take steps to rectify the deficiency.