A fair judgment on reservation

The Supreme Court has clearly said that candidates from reserved categories are eligible to get appointed under the general category if they score higher marks. However, in Kerala, including in appointments made by the Public Service Commission (PSC), the long-standing practice is different. Even if a candidate from a reserved category gets the first rank in an exam, they are considered only under the reserved category and not under the general category. When backward class candidates are not included in the general category, the term “general category” ends up meaning only forward communities without reservation benefits. After the central government passed a law, a 10 percent reservation was also introduced for economically weaker sections among the forward communities.

At present, almost all sections except the economically well-off forward groups receive some form of reservation. A common reason cited for not considering high-scoring reserved category candidates under the general category is that they applied under the reserved category option. In many competitive exams, candidates from reserved communities such as Ezhavas and Muslims often score more marks than candidates in the general category. Yet, they are still treated as beneficiaries of the reservation. This issue could be solved if candidates from reserved categories are given the option, after exam results are published, to opt out of reservation and be considered under the general category. However, the government has never been willing to allow this.

From the beginning, forward communities argued that priority should be given only to those who score higher marks, and not to those who come through reservation benefits. But now that candidates from backward communities are also securing top ranks, this demand in the name of “merit” is no longer raised as strongly. The same elite sections that once opposed reservation later became its beneficiaries, and backward communities have not opposed this. Still, denying reserved category candidates their right to be included in the general merit list is not justified. The Supreme Court’s latest order supports this view. A key observation by the bench comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih states that receiving reservation benefits does not prevent a candidate from being considered under the general category. The court made this clear while dismissing a petition filed by the Rajasthan High Court.

In appointments made by the Rajasthan High Court, candidates from reserved categories were not appointed under the general category even though they scored more than the general category cut-off marks. The affected candidates challenged this, and a division bench of the High Court ruled in their favour. The High Court then approached the Supreme Court, arguing that considering reserved candidates under the general category amounts to giving double benefits. The Supreme Court rejected this argument. The court ruled that if candidates from a reserved category score more than the general category cut-off, they must be considered under the general category. If their marks are below the general cut-off, they should then be considered under the reserved category. This judgment is being widely welcomed as a positive step for backward communities across the country.