The Rules for a competitive examination to be held by the Union Public Service Commission in 2013 (Exam Rules, 2013) – rr.1, 13, 14(ii), 17(1) – Vacancies in the Indian Forest Service (IFS) – Relaxation in qualifying marks at the preliminary stage – Relaxation/concession obtained in ‘eligibility’ or ‘selection criteria’, effect in the matter of cadre allocation – Respondent No.1, a reserved category candidate who availed relaxation in the Preliminary Examination but was placed higher in merit than the Respondent No.3-unreserved candidate in the final merit list based on total marks awarded in Main Examination (Written) and Personality Test, claimed to be treated as a General merit candidate for the purpose of cadre allocation against a General Insider vacancy for State of Karnataka in the IFS – OA allowed by the Tribunal holding that a meritorious SC candidate cannot be denied allocation against a General vacancy solely on the ground of availing relaxation in the SC cut-off marks at the stage of Preliminary Examination and directed to allocate the General Insider vacancy in the State of Karnataka to Respondent No.1, reserved category candidate – Writ petitions filed by Respondent No. 3 (who was allocated the General insider vacancy) and Union of India, dismissed by High Court, order of the Tribunal affirmed – Interference with: Held: Once relaxation has been taken by a reserved category candidate, they cannot be considered for unreserved vacancies – If a reserved category candidate takes benefit of relaxation though at initial stage, it will effectively amount to taking relaxation even at the final stage of the selection process because without giving relaxation to him, he was not in a position to participate in the Main examination and to set forth his claim of cadre allocation – Any relaxation or concession in eligibility or in selection criteria, if taken at any stage of examination by such candidate of SC, ST and OBC, they may not get any benefit to claim the vacancy of unreserved category, in particular, in the context of r.17(1), Exam Rule, 2013 seeking allocation of General Insider vacancy in home State cadre as it would be contrary to paragraph 9 of the Cadre Allocation Policy – The General category cut-off for the Preliminary Examination was fixed at 267 – Respondent No.1 secured 247.18 marks – Had he been put against the general standard, his candidature would have been terminated at the first stage i.e., the Preliminary Examination – His candidature succeeded in the first stage of the examination because of the relaxed standards allowed in the Preliminary Examination for SC candidates i.e. 233 marks – After availing the benefit of this relaxation for admission to the Main Examination, Respondent No.1 cannot subsequently claim to have been selected on “General Standard” merely due to his performance in the subsequent stages surpassed the general standard – If a candidate who has resorted a relaxation at any stage of examination, would not fall within the purview of the proviso to r.14(ii), Exam Rules, 2013 and thus, for the purpose of the applicable Policy for cadre allocation, he would not fall within the list of candidates selected on ‘General Standard’ claiming General Insider vacancy of home state cadre as insider candidate – Respondent No. 1, having availed the benefit of “Relaxed Standard” in the Preliminary Examination, cannot be treated as a candidate selected on “General Standard” thus, he is not entitled to be allocated against the “General Insider” vacancy in the Karnataka Cadre in place of Respondent No.3 – High Court while affirming the judgment of the Tribunal glossed over r.1, intent of r.13 and intent of proviso to r.13 as well as the real meaning of r.14 and proviso thereto along with paragraph 9 of Cadre Allocation Policy – Impugned judgments of High Court set aside – Notification dtd.13.03.15 issued by the MoEFCC insofar allocating the Karnataka Cadre to Respondent No.3 and Tamil Nadu Cadre to Respondent No.1, upheld as correct. [Paras 28, 32, 36, 38-40] The Rules for a competitive examination to be held by the Union Public Service Commission in 2013 – Proviso to r.14(ii) – ‘Relaxed Standard’ – Consequence of availing: Held: If a candidate has found place in the merit list without availing ‘Relaxed Standards’ i.e., without resorting to ‘any’ ‘relaxations’ or ‘concessions’ in eligibility or selection criteria ‘at any stage of examination’, they shall not be adjusted against the vacancies reserved for SC, ST and OBC – In the above context, the word ‘any’ is relatable to relaxations or concessions either in ‘eligibility’ or any ‘selection criteria’ – It further qualifies that such relaxation/concession can be availed at ‘any stage of examination’ having relevance to r.1 which indicates that all candidates would be required to qualify the Preliminary Examination in order to appear in the Main Examination – Therefore, the proviso throws light by focusing on the issue of relaxations and concessions in eligibility or selection criteria at any stage of examination. [Paras 21, 22]
The Rules for a competitive examination to be held by the Union Public Service Commission in 2013 – r.1, Proviso to r.14(ii) – Vacancies in the Indian Forest Service (IFS): Held: r.1 stipulates that IFS examination involves two tiers – Without qualifying first tier i.e., Preliminary Examination, a candidate may not be in a position to participate in Main Examination (Written) – Therefore, even though the Preliminary Examination is merely a screening test and marks obtained may not be counted for determining final merit as per Clause 2 of s.I of Appendix-I, Exam Rules, 2013, nonetheless, it is an integral stage of the examination and relaxation availed by any candidate even at the stage of Preliminary Examination cannot escape the phraseology of proviso to r.14(ii) i.e., ‘relaxed standard’ granted at ‘any stage of examination’. [Para 29]
The Rules for a competitive examination to be held by the Union Public Service Commission in 2013 – r.1, Proviso to r.13, Proviso to r.14(ii) – Vacancies in the Indian Forest Service (IFS) – Mandate of r.1 ignored by High Court – Further, r.14(ii) deals with the situation for the candidates of SC, ST and OBC where discretion has been conferred upon UPSC to grant relaxed standards to the fittest of these candidates for selection to the service – While dealing with those relaxed standards, it has been made clear in proviso that the candidates of SC, ST and OBC recommended without resorting to ‘any’, ‘relaxation’ or ‘concession’ in ‘eligibility’ or ‘selection criteria’ at ‘any stage of examination’ may be adjusted against the vacancies of unreserved category – Those reserved category candidates who have availed of any relaxation or concession at ‘any stage of the examination’ are not eligible to be adjusted against unreserved vacancies.[Paras 26, 27]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Divya Pandey. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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