The Allahabad High Court today ruled that physical disability would not result in denial of license to a person for running a fair price shop just because the handicap may require him or her to take the help of friends and family members to do business.

Passing the order, a Division Bench comprising Justice Sunil Ambawani and Justice K N Pandey said as per the Control Order, 2004, the transfer of agency or sub-agency has been prohibited but this does not prevent a disabled person from taking the help of friends or family members or a hired employee in running the shop.

The order was passed on a writ petition filed by Muneem Ahmed who had challenged the benefit of reservation system being extended to visually impaired persons for grant of license to run fair price shops.

The petitioner had challenged the reservation policy on the ground that a blind person could not run a fair price shop on his or her own and taking the help of others in doing so was in violation of Clause 26 of the Control Order.

The court, while rejecting the petition, upheld the validity of reservation for physically disabled persons saying it was "both a social welfare measure and affirmative action in consonance with Section 43 of Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1955" aimed at rehabilitating handicapped people.