India, Feb. 4 -- The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that all persons with disabilities (PwD), irrespective of the extent of their disability, must be provided the same benefits in competitive examinations, including the provision of scribes and compensatory time.

Reinforcing the principle that reasonable accommodation is a legal right, not a privilege, the top court directed the Union government to revisit its 2022 office memorandum to remove distinctions between PwD and persons with benchmark disabilities (PwBD) for the purpose of providing benefits. PwBD are assessed as having a disability of 40% or more.

A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan emphasised that denying a scribe or extra time to a candidate based on their level ...