Ravi Prakash had cleared the civil services examination in 2006.

A Division Bench led by Justice A K Sikri today imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on the Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT) for the delay, compelling the candidate to enter into litigation. The Bench also directed the government to fill seven other posts, lying vacant since 1996, under the quota for disabled persons.

The court accepted the arguments of Prakash’s counsel S K Rungta, who is also visually handicapped, that the Disabilities Act prescribed 1 per cent quota for visually challenged persons out of the 3 per cent total reservation for handicapped in government jobs.

Rungta contended that the government has not filled the posts for visually handicapped persons since 1996 — by now there are eight such posts which are vacant, he added. Prakash was denied appointment by DOPT on the ground that there was only one post meant for handicapped persons.