Ex-Servicemen Availing Age Relaxation Can't Claim Unreserved Posts Despite Higher Merit: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that ex-servicemen who avail age relaxation in recruitment cannot claim consideration against unreserved (UR) posts, even if they secure higher marks than candidates shortlisted in the unreserved category.

Justice Sanjeev Narula thus dismissed a writ petition filed by ex-servicemen candidates against the Airport Authority of India (AAI), for recruitment to Non-Executive Cadres under the UR category. The bench observed,

“If a candidate's entry into the competition is permitted only by virtue of a concession that the unreserved pool cannot access, the playing field is no longer the same. In such a setting, permitting the candidate to be counted against unreserved vacancies can alter the intended distribution of posts and defeat the policy purpose of carving out a limited horizontal quota for ex-servicemen, which is meant to operate as a specific rehabilitative measure.”

For context, the petitioners who are ex-servicemen had challenged their exclusion from the list of candidates called for document verification for recruitment to Non-Executive cadres in AAI (Northern Region).

They argued that although they had applied under the ex-servicemen category, their marks were higher than the last shortlisted candidate in the unreserved category, and therefore they were entitled to be considered against UR vacancies on merit.

Rejecting the contention, the Court held that eligibility for unreserved vacancies must be satisfied without availing any relaxation or concession.

Since the petitioners were over the prescribed upper age limit for UR candidates and had participated in the recruitment process only by availing age relaxation available to ex-servicemen, they could not subsequently seek treatment as unreserved candidates. It said,

“a candidate who relies on a category-linked relaxation to cross the eligibility barrier cannot simultaneously demand treatment as an unreserved candidate for the purpose of being called against UR vacancies. The Petitioners, therefore, cannot insist on being treated as candidates for UR vacancies, even if their marks exceed those of some candidates called in the unreserved segment. The “horizontal” character of ex-servicemen reservation does not neutralise the embargo.”

The Court also relied on executive instructions issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which clarify that while ex-servicemen reservation is horizontal, an ex-serviceman can be considered for an unreserved post only if all eligibility criteria, including age, are met without relaxation.

As such, the Court dismissed the petition.

Appearance: Mr. Ramesh Chandra Singh, Ms. Prakriti Roy, Advocates for Petitioners; Mr. Amit Bardhan Mohanty, Dr. Neelankshi Choudhary, Mr. Raveesh Kumar Tripathi, Advocates for R-1 and R-2 with Mr. Y.S. Choudhary, Manager (Law), AAI. Ms. Pratima N. Lakra, CGSC with Mr. Shailendra Kumar Mishra, Ms. Mansi Aggarwal, Mr. Chanakya, Advocates for R-3.

Case title: Gaurav Verma & Ors. v. AAI

Case no.: W.P.(C) 9359/2025

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