Asfandyar Khan Tareen vs. Government of Punjab, PLJ 2018 Lahore 508 (Pakistan)

Petitioners challenged the use of the words "disabled," "physically handicapped" and "mentally retarded" mentioned in The Disabled Persons (Employment and Rehabilitation) Ordinance on the ground that they are violative of the fundamental rights of persons with disabilities, in particular, the constitutional rights to life, dignity and non-discrimination. Petitioners submitted that the constitution does not distinguish between a person and a person with disabilities and that under the doctrine of severance, the deletion of the above words does not affect the scope, operability and enforceability of the Ordinance. Citing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, United Nations Charter, Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenants on Human Rights, the court ruled in favor of the petition, finding that keeping words like “disabled,” “physically handicapped” and “mentally retarded” in the statute would repeatedly impair and offend human dignity of persons with different abilities.