KOCHI: The High Court said that the OBC section should not be denied reservation on the ground of delay in submitting the non-creamy layer certificate. The Division Bench passed the order while upholding the judgment of the Single Bench that directed the Indian Institute of Science and Research (IISER) in Thiruvananthapuram to accept the certificate produced by Dr. VS Smitha.

Smitha had filed a writ petition in the high court after IISER rejected her candidature on the ground that she was late in submitting the new non-creamy layer certificate. The bench comprising Justices Alexander Thomas and K Babu also ordered that Smitha should be appointed within six weeks.

In 2017, Smitha had applied for the post of Technical Assistant at IISER. However, her candidature was rejected on the ground that she did not produce a non-creamy layer certificate for the relevant financial year during the submission of the online application.