NEW DELHI: Supreme Court has ruled that candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Economically Weaker Sections are entitled to general category posts if they secure the cutoff marks stipulated for general category.The ruling by a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine G Masih was inspired by SC’s landmark verdict in the Indra Sawhney case of 1992 which had granted 27% reservation to OBCs in govt jobs. The bench dismissed a petition by Rajasthan HC which, while recruiting candidates for certain posts, had barred reserved category candidates from getting appointed against general category posts despite securing more marks than the cutoff fixed for general category.
When an HC division bench ruled in favour of reserved category candidates who wanted to be considered for general category posts, HC moved SC, arguing that considering reserved category candidates for general category posts would amount to their being granted double benefit. Writing the judgment, Justice Datta said, “We hold that the word ‘open’ connotes nothing but ‘open’, meaning thereby that vacant posts which are sought to be filled by earmarking it as ‘open’ do not fall in any category.”Upholding the HC division bench’s decision, SC said, “The availability of reservation doesn’t operate as a bar for a reserved category candidate from being considered on merit against the unreserved category.”The HC recruitment process was based on a written test followed by an interview. SC said if a reserved category candidate gets more marks more than the cutoff prescribed for general category, they should be considered to be in general category while appearing for interview. If the cumulative marks fall short of the cutoff for general category, they would be considered under the reserved category to which they belonged.
