The Allahabad High Court on Thursday directed the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) to postpone its mains examination for 609 posts until a revised merit list of the preliminary exam is prepared. The order came while hearing petitions challenging the exclusion of OBC candidates from the unreserved category despite scoring higher than general category candidates.
“In view of above, all these petitions succeed and are allowed to the extent that respondent U.P. Public Service Commission shall re-draw the merit list of the preliminary examination result of suitable candidates to qualify for next stage of final examination for the purposes of selection and appointment against vacancies advertised vide advertisement No. A-3/E-1/2024 dated 10.4.2024 and thereafter only Commission shall be holding main examination on the basis of such revised preliminary examination result,” the court remarked, as reported by Live Law.
Justice Ajit Kumar observed that several OBC candidates who had scored equal to or higher than unreserved candidates were confined to the reserved list only. The Court noted that this violated the principle of equal treatment, as reserved category aspirants performing at par with general candidates should be placed in the unreserved category as well.
Mains Exam Postponed
The Court directed the UPPSC to re-draw the merit list for the 609 advertised posts, which include Assistant Engineers, District Horticulture Officers, Food Processing Officers, and Senior Technical Assistants in various disciplines. The mains exam, earlier scheduled for Sunday, will now be held only after the revised preliminary results are published.
Issue of 1:15 Ratio Raised
According to the reports, the petitioners also argued that UPPSC failed to follow the advertised rule of shortlisting candidates in the ratio of 1:15 for the mains exam. While fewer candidates were qualified in the unreserved category, some reserved categories exceeded the 1:15 ratio, raising concerns over fairness and compliance with recruitment norms.
Equality Before Law
Quoting legal precedents, the Court held that if a reserved category candidate performs equally or better than general candidates, without availing additional relaxations apart from age or fee concessions, such a candidate must be considered in the unreserved list.
“A candidate may have applied under reserved category but if he is not benefited by any relaxation other than the age and concession in fee at the preliminary examination result, then he can always enter unreserved category not only at the stage of final selection but at the same time when preliminary examination/screening test is held which may be only to shortlist candidates to find suitable candidates,” the court added, as per the Live Law report.
