The Allahabad HC ruling on reservation has clarified how reserved-category candidates who qualify on merit should be treated during the screening stage of recruitment examinations. The court held that candidates belonging to reserved categories who score above the general-category cut-off without using any relaxation in qualifying standards must be considered against unreserved vacancies.
The ruling came in a recruitment case concerning the post of Swasthya Shiksha Adhikari through the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC).
What did the Allahabad High Court rule?
The Lucknow bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Manjive Shukla passed the order while allowing a special appeal filed by Bhavna Yadav and others.
The dispute originated from a UPPSC recruitment advertisement issued on December 22, 2025. The advertisement stated that reserved-category candidates could be adjusted against unreserved vacancies only at the final selection stage, provided they had not received any concession in the qualifying standard during screening.
The petitioners challenged this condition and the related office memorandum.
The court noted that screening examination marks play a substantial role in the recruitment process. Under the applicable recruitment rules, the screening examination accounts for 75 per cent of the marks, while the interview carries the remaining 25 per cent.
Court examines reservation provisions
The bench referred to Section 3(6) of the Uttar Pradesh Public Services (Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes) Act, 1994.
According to the ruling, the provision does not limit the adjustment of meritorious reserved-category candidates against unreserved vacancies only to the final selection stage.
The court therefore set aside the disputed condition in the recruitment advertisement and held that the related office memorandum would not apply to the recruitment in question.
UPPSC and state government given three months
The court directed the UPPSC to examine the applicability of the office memorandum within three months. The Uttar Pradesh government was also directed to formulate and clarify its policy on the issue within the same period.
The ruling distinguishes candidates who qualify through open merit without relaxation from those who use concessions available under reservation provisions, and addresses their categorisation during the recruitment process.
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