Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that candidates who have already benefited from reservation provisions during any stage of a recruitment process cannot later seek consideration under the general category. However, the court has allowed candidates who merely applied under a reserved category, without availing any reservation-related concessions, to be considered for unreserved posts if their merit exceeds the general category cut-off.
The judgment was delivered by a Division Bench comprising Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor while deciding a series of review petitions linked to the recruitment of 805 Ayurvedic Medical Officers (Group-B) in Haryana. The recruitment drive was initiated through an advertisement issued on June 21, 2024.
The court observed that candidates who had obtained advantages such as age relaxation or other reservation-linked benefits could not subsequently claim migration to the unreserved category. At the same time, it held that candidates who had not used any such concessions and had secured marks higher than the last selected candidate in the general category deserved consideration against available unreserved vacancies.
The review petitions were filed after a Division Bench judgment delivered on November 3, 2025. The petitioners argued that even if they were found ineligible for reservation benefits, they should still be considered for selection based on merit, as their scores were above the general category cut-off.
During the proceedings, the High Court sought clarification from the Haryana Public Service Commission and the state government regarding whether the petitioners had derived any benefit from their reserved category status during recruitment.
In response, the state submitted an affidavit stating that several applicants had received reservation-related concessions, including relaxation in age limits. Taking note of the affidavit, the Bench concluded that such candidates could not be shifted to the general category for appointment.
The court further directed that candidates who are eventually selected in the unreserved category solely on merit should be granted notional seniority from the date when candidates lower in merit were appointed. However, financial and service-related benefits would be applicable only from the date of their actual appointment.
The High Court has instructed the authorities to complete the entire exercise within three months.
