Stories
Allahabad HC: Meritorious Reserved Candidates Scoring Above General Cut-Off Must Be Unreserved
- •The Allahabad High Court ruled that meritorious reserved-category candidates scoring above the unreserved cut-off must be treated as unreserved at the screening stage itself, without availing any relaxation.
- •Justices Rajan Roy and Manjive Shukla passed the order, emphasizing the substantial bearing of screening examination marks on final selection, especially since 75% of the final merit list is based on these marks.
- •The case involved recruitment for Swasthya Shiksha Adhikari, where the UPPSC's advertisement stated reserved candidates would be adjusted against unreserved vacancies only at the final selection stage.
- •The High Court clarified that Section 3(6) of the Uttar Pradesh Public Services (Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes) Act, 1994, does not restrict this migration to only the final selection stage.
- •The court set aside the relevant condition in the advertisement and directed the Commission to review its office memorandum, also asking the state government to clarify its policy within three months.
Key Questions Answered
The Allahabad High Court held that meritorious candidates belonging to reserved categories who score above the general category minimum cut-off without availing any concessions must be treated under the unreserved category at the screening stage itself rather than only at the final selection stage.
The petitioners challenged a recruitment advertisement issued by the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) for the post of Swasthya Shiksha Adhikari along with the Commission's January 9, 2020 office memorandum, which restricted the adjustment of reserved-category candidates to unreserved vacancies solely to the final selection stage.
The court directed the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission to review the applicability of its office memorandum within three months and instructed the state government to formulate and clarify its policy on this reservation matter within the same timeframe.
