Disability-based denial of promotion is impermissible absent a valid exemption notification under the statutory proviso.

Section 47(2) of the Persons with Disabilities Act bars denial of promotion merely on the ground of disability, and that protection cannot be displaced by the proviso unless the appropriate Government has issued a specific notification exempting the establishment and setting the exemption conditions. A proviso cannot enlarge the main provision or imply exclusion without such notification. On the facts discussed, no valid exemption notification was shown, and the employee was denied consideration only because he was visually handicapped; the denial was therefore not justified.

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Issues: Whether a disabled employee can be denied promotion merely on the ground of disability under Section 47 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, and whether the proviso to sub-section (2) permits denial of that protection in the absence of a notification exempting the establishment.

Analysis: Section 47(2) expressly prohibits denial of promotion merely on the ground of disability. The proviso does not create a general power to exclude establishments at will; it operates only when the appropriate Government issues a notification, having regard to the type of work carried on in the establishment, and specifies the conditions of exemption. A proviso cannot be used to expand the main enactment or to import an implied exclusion where no notification exists. On the facts, no valid notification exempting the establishment was shown, and the employee was denied consideration only because he was regarded as visually handicapped.

Conclusion: The denial of promotion was not justified, and the challenge to the Tribunal's order failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Section 47(2) confers a substantive protection against denial of promotion on the ground of disability, and the proviso can operate only through a specific governmental notification exempting an establishment from that statutory mandate.

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