Early this year, 25-year-old Rajat Sachdeva applied for a learner’s driving licence. It was rejected outright — simply because he is hard of hearing.

Sachdeva did not give up. He moved the Delhi High Court to take up the cause for others like him. Almost one in every ten people in India suffers from hearing impairment.

On Wednesday, a Division Bench led by Chief Justice A P Shah garnered an assurance from the Centre, represented by Additional Solicitor General A S Chandiok, to “make appropriate recommendations for issuance of driving licence to the deaf” within four weeks.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Sachdeva and the NGO National Association for the Deaf.

Sachdeva’s question to the court was simplicity itself: Why should the deaf not be allowed to drive if the law does not prevent them?

To prove his point, the young man, supported by the association, placed on record a FAQ web page of the Delhi Police website, featuring a question, “can a deaf person drive?” The police reply says: “There is no reason why a deaf person cannot drive a private motorcar. However, the possibility of additional rear vision mirrors may need to be considered.”

Sachdeva argued that he was hard put to understand the authorities’ turning a deaf ear on him when even the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 had “no specific provision suggesting that deaf people are not permitted to obtain a driving licence in India “.

The Section 8 of the Act merely provides a general caution that licence should not be given to a person with a disability “which is likely to cause the driving by him to be source of danger to the public”.

... contd.