Reservation should be envisaged as only a means to secure justice as enshrined in Preamble, not as a solution: Allahabad HC

While directing the state government to revise the select list of Assistant Teachers Recruitment Examination (ATRE) 2019, the Allahabad High Court recently observed that reservation should not be envisaged as an end to the problem but merely a means to secure the social, economic and political justice as enshrined in our Preamble.

The bench of Justice Om Prakash Shukla was dealing with a bunch of 117 pleas filed challenging the reservation policy adopted in ARTE-2019.

The primary issue raised in the pleas pertained to migration of Meritorious reserved category (MRC) candidates to the open category and its consequences for both the reserved category as well as the unreserved category.

The single judge bench observed that the government had failed to implement the provisions of Sections 3(1) & 3(6) of the Reservation Act, 1994 in its letter and spirit in ARTE-2019.

Court highlighted that the state government failed to show the court as to who and in what manner certain reserved category candidates were construed to be MRC, so as to allow them to migrate into the open category.

Therefore, highlighting that there was an apparent anomaly in implementing the reservation policy of ATRE-2019, court ordered the state government to prepare a new merit list within three months of the candidates who appeared in the Assistant Teachers Recruitment Examination (ATRE) 2019 after fixing the reservation in proper manner.

Court also ordered that till the time the government prepares the revised list, the candidates already appointed and presently working as Assistant Teachers in various districts shall continue to work in their posts till such period.

The appointment of those teachers, who do not find any place in the revised list and who had been appointed as per the select list of June 1, 2020 was purely fortuitous and does not entail any right in them, the single judge bench further clarified. 

"The said direction is in conformity to the interim order dated 7th of December, 2020, wherein this court while issuing notice to the affected persons directed that, in the meantime, appointments made on the post of Assistant Teacher shall be subject to the final decision of these petitions," court underscored.

However, in order to balance the equity and keeping in mind the welfare of such already appointed teachers who may be ousted by a revision in the select list, court granted liberty to the state government to frame a policy for adjustment of these teachers.

ARTE-2019 was held for filling up 69,000 vacancies of Assistant Teachers. The examination remained in limelight due to controversies arising out of the state government's decisions regarding qualification requirements etc. post the publication of the exam notification. 

The final select list of the candidates which was published on June 1, 2020, was also mired with controversy and various writ petitions came to be filed interdicting the said list both by the open category candidates as well as the reserved category candidates. 

The pleas contained a common ground of defective application of the reservation policy, including non-compliance of Section 3(6) of the U.P. Public Services (Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes) Act, 1994 dealing with the migration of MRC candidates to the General Category.

During the pendency of the aforesaid writ petitions, two sub select-list of selected candidates, first for 31,277 candidates dated October 11, 2020 and a second list for 36,590 candidates dated November 30, 2020 was issued out of the total post of 69000, wherein 1133 post of Scheduled Tribe was left vacant due to non-availability of ST candidates.

A third list of sub select-list dated June 26, 2021, was also issued for absorbing 6696 candidates.

Subsequently, two more writ petitions came to be filed before the Apex Court by candidates who had appeared & participated in the ATRE-2019, requesting the Apex Court to consider the vacancies arising out of the earlier section process i.e ATRE-2018 to be added to the present selection.

Though the Top Court refused to accede to the said request, the state government, for healing of discrepancies made in the recruitment process of ATRE-2019, without rectifying the mistake in the list of 69000, issued a fourth select list of 6800 candidates of reserved category.

The high court, while disposing of the present batch of pleas, held that any reserved category candidate, who has obtained 65% marks or more can be considered to be a meritorious reserved category candidate and accordingly allowed to compete with the general category candidate and progress to the open category, whereas a reserved category candidate, who has scored less than 65% and more than 60% in the ATRE-2019 would be considered in their own respective category and would not be allowed to progress into consideration zone with general category candidates on the basis of scoring more in the quality point.

In view of the same, court made observations clarifying the rules to be followed by the state government while revising the final merit list of June 1, 2020 and also made it clear that reservation should not be in any circumstances more than 50% of the total seats.

Furthermore, court quashed the fourth select list of 6800 candidates.

Case Title: Mahendra Pal And Ors. vs. State Of UP along with connected matters