Can persons with autism and other disabilities access life insurance, and travel by air, on equal terms? The Supreme Court is examining both questions in a public interest petition. It has now asked the insurance regulator to produce data on how many life-insurance policies insurers have actually issued to persons with disabilities, and directed the Centre to file the civil aviation ministry’s response.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to present data on the number of life-insurance policies issued by public-sector and private-sector insurers to insure the lives of persons with autism, cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities and multiple disabilities [Action for Autism v. Union of India and Others].
A Bench of Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice R. Mahadevan passed the direction while hearing a public interest litigation concerning the rights of persons with disabilities.
What the Court directed
The Additional Solicitor General submitted that he would file the response of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and would also seek instructions from the National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities, the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and the Ministry of Finance.
The Court directed the counsel for IRDAI to seek instructions and place on record, by the next date of hearing, the data on how many policies had been issued by both public-sector and private-sector insurance companies to insure the lives of persons with these disabilities. The matter was listed for November 19, 2026, with liberty to file a rejoinder affidavit by then.
The background
The petition, filed by the organisation Action for Autism, raises concerns about the rights of persons with autism and other disabilities across several areas, including access to life insurance and accommodations in air travel. The proceedings involve multiple government respondents, and the Court’s directions are aimed at gathering the factual position, in particular, the extent to which insurers actually issue life-insurance cover to persons with these disabilities, so that the issues raised can be examined on a full record.
Access to insurance has been a recurring concern for persons with disabilities and their families, who often report difficulty in obtaining life and health cover on fair terms. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 obliges the State to ensure that persons with disabilities are not discriminated against, and the data the Court has called for will indicate how far the insurance sector, public and private, has extended cover to the groups named in the petition.
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Why it matters
The order, though procedural, reflects the way public interest litigation on disability rights is often taken forward, by first compelling the authorities and regulators to disclose the ground reality before any substantive direction is framed. By seeking hard data from IRDAI on policies actually issued, rather than accepting general assurances, the Court is positioning itself to assess whether persons with autism, cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities and multiple disabilities are, in practice, able to obtain life-insurance cover, or whether they face exclusion.
The parallel direction on air travel, requiring the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s response, indicates that the petition also engages the accommodations such persons need to fly with dignity, an area that has seen repeated grievances. Taken together, the directions treat access to essential services, insurance and travel, as facets of the broader guarantee of equal participation that the disability-rights framework envisages.
Nothing has been decided at this stage. The Court has issued no substantive direction on either insurance or air travel; it has sought responses and data, and the matter will be taken up next in November. What the order signals is the Court’s intent to examine these concerns on a concrete factual footing, with the responses of the National Trust, the disability-empowerment department, the Finance Ministry, the civil aviation ministry and the insurance regulator all to be placed before it.
Case Title: Action for Autism v. Union of India and Others [W.P.(C) No. 729/2025]
Bench: Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice R. Mahadevan, Supreme Court of India
Date of Order: September 23, 2026
Status: IRDAI directed to place on record data on life-insurance policies issued to persons with autism, cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities and multiple disabilities; Centre to file the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s response and seek instructions from other authorities. Listed November 19, 2026. No substantive direction yet.