Supreme Court: Merit-Selected Reserved Candidates Can Claim Better Posts
The Supreme Court has clarified that a reserved-category candidate selected in the open category on merit can be considered for a better post under the reserved category if their marks exceed those of another reserved-category candidate already holding that post.
A bench of Justice MM Sundresh and Justice Prasanna B Varale said this legal position is settled and has been reaffirmed in several earlier judgments, including a Constitution Bench ruling in Union of India v. Ramesh Ram. The court held that eligible reserved-category candidates placed in the open category on merit cannot be denied a better reserved post merely because they were selected against an open seat.
The observation came while hearing petitions related to allocation of services to reserved-category candidates selected on open merit in the 6th Combined Civil Services Examination by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission.
