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A Candidate Once Availed Age Relaxation For Reserved Category Can't Later Migrate To General Category: SC
A Supreme Court bench of Justices Abdul Nazeer and Indira Banerjee held that age relaxation granted to the candidates belonging to reserved categories in a selection process is an incident of reservation under Article 16(4) of the Constitution of India and such candidates cannot later seek to be accommodated in/or migrated to the general category seat.
The Court acknowledged the Gujarat government circulars of January, 2000 and July, 2004. These circulars stipulated a policy for the creation of quota for the SC/ST and the OBC. The Apex court observing the advertisement issued by the GPSC- Gujarat Public Service Commission in March, 2010 for 167 posts of Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) and Range Forest Officer (RFO) where the upper age limit relaxation was allowed only to the SC/ST and SEBC candidates, noted that it was specified in the advertisement that any candidate belonging to a reserved category who applies in the open category, would not get the benefit of age relaxation.
The bench, observing the state government’s position, held that when a relaxed standard is applied in selecting a candidate for SC/ST, SEBC category such candidate selected in the said manner, shall have to be considered only against his/her reserved post and would be deemed to be unavailable for the unreserved posts.
Thus, the SC upheld the Gujarat Public Service Commission selection process dismissing the challenge to the Gujarat HC decision.
