The Bombay High Court upheld the constitutionally recognized distinction in reservation criteria for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates, dismissing a petition from Dharmendra Kumar, an OBC candidate. The court emphasized that SC/ST candidates are distinct from OBC candidates in terms of civil service examination attempts, affirming existing rules on reservations.
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has upheld the distinction in reservation criteria for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates, stating that their classification is constitutionally recognized and cannot be termed arbitrary.
The court dismissed a petition filed by 38-year-old Dharmendra Kumar, an OBC candidate with a benchmark disability, who challenged the Civil Services Examination Rules allowing unlimited attempts for SC/ST candidates, while restricting OBC and PwBD (Persons with Benchmark Disability) candidates to nine attempts.
Kumar, who has already attempted the exam nine times unsuccessfully, argued that the rule was discriminatory. However, a division bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Ashwin Bhobe rejected his plea on February 4, stating:
“The SC/ST itself is a class which has a definite connotation in the Constitution and is distinct from the OBC, which has received recognition under the Constitution.”
The court emphasized that SC/ST candidates and OBC candidates cannot be treated as equals in matters of reservation and attempts in civil services exams. It stated:
“By no stretch of imagination, can a person belonging to the OBC category compare himself with a person from the SC/ST category, as the two classes stand apart in the Constitution for the purposes of reservation.”
Regarding the PwBD category, the court clarified that it is a horizontal reservation, cutting across vertical reservations (SC/ST/OBC/General).
“Therefore, if a candidate with benchmark disability belongs to the SC/ST category, he or she shall stand on a different footing than a candidate from any other category,”
the HC ruled.
The court refused to accept Kumar’s argument that all PwBD candidates, regardless of their caste category, should receive the same number of attempts as SC/ST candidates.
This ruling reaffirms the constitutional distinction between reservation categories and upholds the existing Civil Services Examination Rules.
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