SC: unreserved vacancies for candidates with disabilities open for all categories

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 7 April, ruled that “unreserved” vacancies for Persons with Disabilities (PWD) form an open pool where merit is paramount, and eligible candidates from any social or special category can compete for the posts.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and N Kotiswar Singh set aside a Calcutta High Court judgement that had favored a lower-merit general category candidate over a higher-merit OBC candidate in a recruitment case involving the West Bengal State Electricity Transmission Company Limited (WBSETCL).

"In reservation law, it is well settled that the Unreserved/Open category does not refer to any social/communal category like SCs, STs or OBC. In other words, any post falling under the Unreserved or Open category does not pertain to any particular social category, it provides an open field or pool meant for the world at large, in the sense that it is open to all candidates, irrespective of whether one belongs to any social or special category or not," said Justice Singh, who authored the verdict.

The case arose from the WBSETCL recruitment notification for a Junior Engineer (Civil) Grade-II post designated for an “Unreserved (Persons with Disabilities – Low Vision).” Two candidates—a general category candidate scored 55.667 marks, and an OBC candidate scored 66.667 marks—vied for the position.

While WBSETCL appointed the higher scoring OBC candidate, the general category candidate challenged the decision, claiming he should have been appointed as a qualified unreserved PWD candidate, and reserved category candidates should be considered only if no unreserved PWD candidates are eligible.

A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court upheld WBSETCL’s decision. However, a division bench reversed the ruling and ordered the appointment of the less-meritorious unreserved candidate. WBSETCL then appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court restored the WBSETCL decision, reiterating that all persons with disabilities, regardless of their caste or social status, have equal rights to compete for unreserved PWD vacancies, provided merit is satisfied.

This judgment underlines the principle of equality and meritocracy in recruitment for disabled candidates and clarifies prevalent misunderstandings about the scope of unreserved PWD vacancies.

(With agency inputs)