SC urges companies, investors to consider inclusion of disabled persons as 'strategic advantage'

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday urged companies and investors to consider the inclusion of disabled persons not just as a compliance issue, but as a strategic advantage that enhances business performance, resilience, and societal impact.

A bench comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan said rights of persons with disabilities have to be viewed from the prism of Corporate Social Responsibility to protect and further such rights.

True equality at the workplace can be achieved only with the right impetus given to disability rights as a facet of Corporate Social Responsibility, the bench said.

"Disability inclusion is a vital component of the 'Social' dimension in the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) framework," the bench said.

"In its 2024 guide on 'Putting the ‘I’ in ESG: Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities as Strategic Advantage of Sustainability Practices for Corporates and Investors', the ILO Global Business and Disability Network urged "companies and investors to view disability inclusion not just as a compliance issue, but as a strategic advantage that enhances business performance, resilience, and societal impact," it said.

The observations came while directing the chairman of Coal India Ltd to create a supernumerary post for a woman, suffering from multiple disabilities, at North Eastern Coalfields Coal India Ltd., having an office at Margherita, Tinsukia, Assam.

Invoking its extraordinary constitutional powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, the top court gave relief to Sujata Bora.

Bora had qualified in the Coal India Ltd interview for the post of management trainee after applying as a reserved candidate in the visually handicapped category.

However, she was declared unfit on the grounds that she was not only suffering from visual disability but also from residuary partial hemiparesis.