Reserved category candidates can fill general quota based on merit: Telangana HC

A judgement of the Telangana High Court has reaffirmed that meritorious candidates from reserved categories can be considered to fill open category seats/posts if they get marks higher than those candidates that are eligible under the general quota categories.

This judgement was delivered in the case of Nirmala Jyothi vs The Telangana State Public Service Commission, rep., by its Secretary, Nampally, Hyderabad & Ors.

It becomes one of the most recent additions to the extensive jurisprudence on the complex issue of reservation in India.

Decoding the proceeding

The petition was filed before the Telangana High Court challenging the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission's (APPSC) selection process for Child Development Project Officers (CDPO).

In this case, 3 SC candidates scored higher marks than the last general category candidate in the common recruitment process. The petitioner has contended that the 3 SC candidates should have been considered in the general category and not within the reserved quota, thereby leaving the top 3 vacancies in the reserved category positions open. Since the petitioner secured the next highest score from the reserved category, she would have then been eligible in the SC category. Therefore, the petitioner claimed that due process was not followed and requested for her selection to be admitted.

The Division Bench of Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice N.Tukaramji relied heavily on past case law in this regard, particularly taking into account the directives issued by the Supreme Court in the case of State of Tamil Nadu & Others vs K.Shobana etc. The K.Shobana case is significant as it provides the selection process for meritorious reserved category candidates.

Accordingly, the Bench stated "Instead of preparing a general merit list, they filled up the backlog vacancies first. They should have filled up the regular vacancies, which they have not done. Apart from this, they treated one of the SC candidate as reserved candidate despite the fact that she secured more marks than the marks obtained by last OC candidate merely because she got benefit of age relaxation."

While acknowledging its omissions, the APPSC stressed on the procedural difficulties involved since the selection process had already been completed and positions filled. It therefore put forward a solution that the petitioner would be accommodated in a vacant position arising from another candidate's resignation.

Taking this into consideration, the Court directed "the APPSC to treat one SC category post as vacant, and consider case of the petitioner to be evaluated on her own merit." It further stated "It will be open for the respondents to treat meritorious SC category candidate, who secured more marks than OC candidate as OC candidate in accordance with law."