Cause Title: Rekha Sharma vs. The Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur & Anr. Ratanlal vs. The Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur & Anr.
Case Number: Civil Appeal No. 5051 of 2023 Civil Appeal No. 5052 of 2023
Judgment Date: August 21, 2024
Quorum/Bench: Justice Bela M. Trivedi Justice Satish Chandra Sharma
Paragraph 12: Undisputedly, the reservation for the Persons with disabilities has been treated as Horizontal Reservation i.e. the reservation under Clause (1) of Article 16, and not the Vertical reservation i.e. the reservation under Clause (4) of Article 16 of the Constitution of India. In the case of Indra Sawhney & Others vs. Union of India and Others the concept of "Vertical Reservations" and "Horizontal Reservations" has been aptly explained.
Submission of Appellant:
The respondents' action of not disclosing the cut-off marks for the category of Persons with Benchmark Disabilities was discriminatory and violated their fundamental rights under Articles 14, 16 and 21 of the Constitution.
The respondents' action was also violative of the Rajasthan Judicial Service Rules, 2010 read with the Rajasthan Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2018.
The appellants contended that the respondents were required to fix and disclose the cut-off marks for the category of Persons with Benchmark Disabilities.
Submission of Respondent:
The appellant-Rekha Sharma obtained 57 marks in the EWS category, for which the cut-off marks were 69, and the appellant-Ratan Lal secured 59 marks in the OBC-NCL category, for which the cut-off marks were 67, and hence they were found to be not qualified for the Main Examination.
The entire selection process was over on 30.08.2022, and the appointments of successful candidates have already been made by the respondents on 09.03.2023.
The respondents submitted that the reservation for persons with disabilities was an Overall Horizontal Reservation, and hence, there was no requirement to fix and disclose separate cut-off marks for this category.
Paragraph 9: It is quite well settled that the Horizontal Reservation is of two types: - (i) Compartmentalised Horizontal Reservation, and (ii) Overall Horizontal Reservation. The Compartmentalised Horizontal Reservation is such wherein the proportionate vacancies are reserved in each vertical reserved category. However, in case of Overall Horizontal Reservation, the Reservation is provided on the total post advertised i.e. such reservation is not specific to each vertical category.
Decision of the Judgment:
The Supreme Court dismissed both the appeals, holding that the respondents' action of not fixing and disclosing the cut-off marks for the category of Persons with Benchmark Disabilities was neither arbitrary nor violative of the appellants' fundamental rights. The Court discussed the law on Horizontal Reservation, and observed that the reservation for persons with disabilities was an Overall Horizontal Reservation, and the appellants were required to secure the minimum cut-off marks fixed for the category under which they had applied.
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