New Delhi: The Supreme Court has reiterated that a candidate who is otherwise eligible under a reserved category but has been placed in the open/unreserved category on merit is entitled to a better post under the reserved category as against a candidate who has secured lesser marks within that reserved category.
A Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Prasanna B. Varale was hearing a batch of matters led by SLP(C) No.967/2024, filed by one Chandan against the State of Jharkhand and others, arising from a judgment dated 18.10.2023 of the Jharkhand High Court at Ranchi in LPA No.231/2021.
The batch also included connected SLP(C) Nos.1338/2024, 1309/2024, 1310/2024 and 15582/2024, and Transfer Petition (C) No.171/2026, along with five pending intervention applications.
Recording that the position in law is settled, the Bench relied on the decision of a larger Bench of this Court in Union of India v. Ramesh Ram and Ors., reported in (2010) 7 SCC 234, to hold that there was “no difficulty” in accepting the above proposition.
Senior Counsel appearing for the respondents submitted that the petitioners had, in fact, availed of a relaxation, which would bear upon their entitlement. The Court, however, recorded that it did not find any material on record to substantiate this submission. Counsel appearing for the State of Jharkhand and the Jharkhand Public Service Commission accordingly sought six weeks' time to file an affidavit addressing this aspect.
The Bench also flagged an incidental issue for future consideration the position of unreserved candidates in the event a reserved candidate, who had migrated to the unreserved category, is subsequently sent back to a reserved post of his choice.
“there is no difficulty in holding that a person who is otherwise eligible under the reserved category and has been fitted into the open category, is entitled to a better post under the reserved category.”
No final orders were passed on the merits. The matter has been listed next on 25.08.2026, by when the affidavit on the relaxation issue is to be filed.
Appearances:
For the Petitioner(s): Mrs. Haripriya Padmanabhan, Senior Advocate, with Mr. Anup Kumar, AOR, and others.
For the Respondent(s): Mr. Gaurav Agarwal and Mr. K. Parameshwar, Senior Advocates, with Ms. Madhusmita Bora, Mr. Himanshu Shekhar, Ms. Rachitta Rai, and other Advocates-on-Record.
Case Title: Chandan vs. The State of Jharkhand & Ors., SLP(C) No.967/2024 with connected matters
