In 2014, V Surendra Mohan, a practicing advocate, applied for the post of a Civil Judge in Tamil Nadu. His application was rejected on the ground that he was 70% blind. This resulted from Tamil Nadu's policy of reserving the post only for persons whose percentage of blindness did not exceed 40-50%. He challenged this policy before the Supreme Court, arguing that this arbitrary eligibility criteria deprived him of a post that he was otherwise entitled to as per his marks and interview. In 2019, the Supreme Court upheld the state's exclusionary policy as 'reasonable, just, and fair', given that judicial officers need to possess a 'reasonable' amount of 'hearing, sight and speech' to discharge their functions. Since it was considered 'extremely difficult, even impossible' for a blind person to perform judicial functions, the Court found that reservations were 'far from advisable' to prevent 'avoidable complications'. This judgment is a grim reminder of how ableism, or discrimination against persons with disabilities, continues to be one of the least recognised but most pervasive forms of discrimination today.