Punjab and Haryana High Court Clarifies Reservation Rule: Candidates Who Availed Benefits Cannot Shift to General Category

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that candidates who avail any reservation-related benefit during a recruitment process cannot later seek migration to the general category. However, those who applied under a reserved category but did not use any reservation benefit and scored above the unreserved cut-off can be considered for general category vacancies.

The judgment was delivered by a Division Bench of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor while deciding review petitions related to the recruitment of 805 Ayurvedic Medical Officer (Group B) posts in Haryana, advertised on June 21, 2024.

The review applicants argued that even if they were not entitled to reservation benefits, they should still be selected because they had secured marks higher than the last selected candidate in the general category.

During the hearing, the High Court directed the Haryana Public Service Commission and the state government to clarify whether the applicants had received any reservation-related concessions. In response, the state informed the court that some candidates had availed benefits such as age relaxation and other concessions available to reserved categories. The Bench held that once such benefits are taken, candidates cannot claim migration to the unreserved category.

At the same time, the court clarified that applicants who merely applied under a reserved category but did not receive any advantage and secured marks above the general category cut-off would be eligible for consideration against available unreserved vacancies.

The Bench also directed that candidates selected purely on merit in the general category should receive notional seniority from the date their juniors were appointed. However, actual service and financial benefits will be granted only from the date of their appointment. The entire exercise has been ordered to be completed within three months.