In Brief
Two female applicants, Ms. Sonam Tomar (OBC-Female) and Ms. Reeta Rani (SC-Female), sought relief after being rejected in the 2013 UP Police Constables recruitment despite scoring higher marks than some selected candidates. The core issue was whether reserved-category (OBC/SC) female candidates scoring above the General-Female cut-off could be selected for General-Female posts, or must be confined to their own category quotas. The Supreme Court held that horizontal reservations (for women) operate as "interlocking" mechanisms cutting across vertical (caste-based) reservations. Reserved-category women scoring above the General-Female cut-off are entitled to appointment in that open category based on merit. Confining them to their own categories while selecting less meritorious unreserved women would negate merit and constitute impermissible "communal reservation." The Court allowed the application for all 21 OBC female candidates who scored above 274.8928 marks, but dismissed claims of SC female candidates who scored below that threshold. The judgment rejected the Allahabad High Court's restrictive view and endorsed the principle that the open category is merit-based and available to all candidates regardless of caste.
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