Madhya Pradesh High Court: In a writ petition seeking directions to ensure that meritorious reserved category candidates (OBC, SC, and ST) are considered for unreserved (UR) seats at all stages of the Madhya Pradesh Judicial Services recruitment process, including the preliminary and main examinations, a division bench of Suresh Kumar Kait,* CJ., and Vivek Jain, J., directed that all future recruitment processes conducted by the Examination Cell of the Madhya Pradesh High Court must extend migration benefits to meritorious reserved category candidates in the unreserved category at every stage of selection, including preliminary exams while preserved the status of ongoing processes.
The main issue in the present petition was whether the principle of migration (meritorious reserved category candidates competing for UR seats) be applied at all stages of the recruitment process and whether the current recruitment process violate constitutional principles of equality and merit.
The petitioner argued that the exclusion of meritorious reserved category candidates from competing for UR seats in the preliminary stage causes injustice and restricts their opportunities, violated Articles and of the . The petitioner stated that the principle of migration was upheld in Kishore Choudhary v. State of M.P., , and later confirmed in Deependra Yadav v. State of M.P., . The petitioner further stated that the non-migration unfairly burdens the reserved category by preventing truly deserving candidates from occupying their rightful slots in UR and reserved categories.
However, the respondents countered the petitioner by referring to contrary interpretations in Pushpendra Kumar Patel v. High Court of M.P., , where the Court disagreed with Kishore Choudhary (Supra) and held that migration cannot apply at the preliminary stage, as merit is not assessed comprehensively at this stage. The respondents highlighted recruitment rules that allegedly did not mandate migration in the earlier stages of selection.
The Court acknowledged conflicting judgments in Kishore Choudhary (supra) which supported migration benefits at all stages and Pushpendra Kumar Patel (Supra) which deemed migration benefits in preliminary stages unsupported by precedent. The Court noted that the Supreme Court in Deependra Yadav (Supra) resolved the conflict and held that migration benefits must be extended at all stages of selection.
The Court held that meritorious reserved category candidates who score higher or equal to UR candidates are entitled to compete for UR seats at all stages of recruitment and this aligns with the principles of equality under Articles and of the . The Court clarified on the legality and necessity of this practice to ensure fair representation and equal opportunity and stated that the principles of equality and merit demand such inclusion at the preliminary stage to prevent harm to reservation-category candidates who perform meritoriously.
The Court upheld the principles established in Deependra Yadav (Supra) and Kishore Choudhary (Supra) and directed that in all future recruitment exams, meritorious reserved category candidates be considered for UR seats at every stage of the selection process, including preliminary exams. However, the Court added that this directive does not affect ongoing recruitment where examinations have already been conducted.
[Anusuchit Jati, Evam Jan Jati Adhikari Karmachari Sangh v. MP High Court of Madhya Pradesh, Writ Petition No. 32834 of 2024, Decided on 21-11-2024]
*Judgment by Chief Justice Suresh Kumar Kait
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Shri Rameshwar Singh Thakur and Shri Vinayak Prasad Shah, Counsel for the Petitioner
Buy Constitution of India
The post appeared first on .