Grant Of Age Relaxation To Meritorious Women Candidates Does Not Debar Them From Competing In Open Category: MP High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has held that granting age relaxation to women candidates, if meritorious, does not disqualify them from competing for the open unreserved category post. The bench of Justice Deepak Khot, while directing the authorities to consider the petitioner's appointment her Eye Assistant (Ministerial), emphasised that a candidate applying for a reservation vertically or horizontally can compete in the unreserved open category if he/she is more meritorious than the cut-off marks fixed for the category. It further added; "Grant of relaxation itself does not discriminate the woman candidate from competing in the open category because petitioner is meritorious and got more marks. It is not the case that the petitioner has secured lesser marks than respondent no.5".The petitioner appeared for the Combined Examination Recruitment Test 2023 for the position of Eye Assistant (Ministerial). Three positions were mentioned in the advertisement- one unreserved open, one unreserved contractual and one reserved for the ST category.The petitioner, a woman candidate, obtained 65.97/100 marks in the exam, but she was not selected in the merit list, while the respondent no 5, who obtained only 62.88 marks, was selected.The counsel for the petitioner contended that she was excluded because she was 45 years of age, which is more than the prescribed age limit of 18-40 years under the open category. The counsel argued that under clause 9.3 of the advertisement, age relaxation was granted to female candidates, allowing eligibility relaxation till the age of 45 years. It was asserted that the advertisement did not restrict the selection to only males and allowed women to compete on merit. Therefore, the petitioner sought directions for the respective authorities to issue an appointment to the petitioner and to set aside the selection letter of respondent no 5. The counsel for the State argued that there was no separate women-reserved vacancy in the open category and that all candidates competing for the position were eligible if they were between the prescribed age of 18-40 years. The court noted that clause 9.3 of the Rules prescribes the age limit for the open test for direct recruitment. However, the maximum age limit is 45 years for the SC/ST/OBC, Government Servants and women candidates. The bench noted that in the unreserved category, only one open post was advertised, and nothing regarding the women's category was mentioned. Thus, it meant that any person, including a woman candidate, was eligible to compete in the open category. Further, it was found that no reservation was carved out within the open category for women and therefore, women could also participate in the examination for the post kept under the open category. Specifically, it was observed that the rules did not provide that if age relaxation is granted to women candidates, they will not be allowed to compete in the open category. The bench further emphasized that a candidate who has applied under reservation vertically or horizontally can compete with the unreserved open category if she/he is more meritorious. The bench highlighted;"Woman candidates are the horizontal reserved category carved out in the vertical horizontal system, but when woman is competing in an open category then if the woman candidate is getting higher marks then any of the reservation would not be applicable to that woman candidate and that she will be treated to be at par with the open unreserved category candidate". In the present case, the bench observed that the petitioner was not treated as being in the open category because she was above 40 years of age. However, it was noted that such a restriction is impermissible in law as the open, unreserved category is open to all. Additionally, if the women candidates were granted permission to participate in the examination, then the petitioner cannot be discriminated for not being in the prescribed age limit for the open category. The bench observed, "the petitioner has though obtained higher marks than the respondent no.5, but because she is above 40 years of age, she has not been treated to be in the open category. Such restriction is not permissible under the law because the open unreserved category is open to all, particularly when a woman candidate who has been granted relaxation to participate in the examination then she cannot be discriminated because she is not coming within the age limit prescribed for the open category candidate, i.e. 18 to 40".Thus, the bench allowed the petition and set aside the impugned order. The court further directed the authorities to consider the petitioner's appointment. Case Title: Pritam Kaur v State [WP-5390-2024]For Petitioner: Advocates Akash Chaudhary and Naveen VaswaniFor State: Advocate Vinod MishraFor MP Employee Selection Board: Advocate Rahul DiwakerClick here to read/download the Order

Grant Of Age Relaxation To Meritorious Women Candidates Does Not Debar Them From Competing In Open Category: MP High Court

Jayanti Pahwa

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