Horizontal Reservation in Unreserved Category Must Be Filled on Merit; Reserved Category PWD Candidate Can Migrate: Supreme Court

Held: The Supreme Court held that a post reserved horizontally for Persons with Disabilities (PWD-LV) within the Unreserved category must be filled strictly on merit among all eligible PWD-LV candidates, irrespective of their social category. It clarified that candidates belonging to reserved categories (such as OBC/SC/ST) can migrate to unreserved horizontal posts if they are more meritorious, and the availability of a less meritorious unreserved candidate cannot bar such appointment.

Summary: The case concerned the interpretation of a recruitment notification providing one post under the Unreserved category for Persons with Disabilities (Low Vision), with a stipulation that in absence of a qualified unreserved candidate, the post may be filled from other categories. A less meritorious unreserved PWD-LV candidate challenged the appointment of a more meritorious OBC candidate who also belonged to the PWD-LV category. The Division Bench of the High Court held that the unreserved PWD-LV candidate must be preferred if available. The Supreme Court reversed this view, explaining the distinction between vertical (social) and horizontal (special) reservations and reiterating that unreserved posts do not belong to any particular social category. It held that horizontal reservation within the unreserved category remains open to all candidates possessing the qualifying disability, regardless of caste category, and must be filled on merit. The Court emphasized the principle of migration, allowing reserved category candidates to compete for unreserved posts without affecting reservation quotas, and clarified that any interpretation privileging less meritorious unreserved candidates would violate Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.

Decision: The appeal was allowed, the judgment of the Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court was set aside, and the decision of the Single Bench was restored, thereby upholding the appointment of the more meritorious PWD-LV candidate from the reserved category to the unreserved post. All pending applications were disposed of.