KRISHNA KUMARI Vs. STATE OF UTTARANCHAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE third Respondent, Uttaranchal Public Service Commission issued Annexure 4 Notification inviting applications for 200 posts of Lecturers in the Higher Education Department. Out of the 200 posts, 20 are the posts of Lecturer in Chemistry. As per the Notification, out of the 200 posts of Lecturers, 45 are reserved for Scheduled Caste, 1 for Scheduled Tribe and 23 for Other Backward Classes. Remaining 131 posts belong to unreserved category. Out of the 20 posts of Lecturer in Chemistry, 4 are reserved for Scheduled Caste, none for Scheduled Tribe and 3 for Other Backward Classes. The remaining 13 posts belong to unreserved category. As per Clause 6(B) of the Notification, horizontal reservation is made for Women, Dependents of Freedom Fighters of Uttaranchal, Physically Handicapped persons and Ex -servicemen. However, Physically Handicapped persons can be given reservation only as provided in Clause 6(B), according to which, persons suffering from blindness and locomotor disability can be considered for posts of Lecturers in Hindi, English, Political Science, Sociology, History, Education and Music. Persons suffering from locomotor disability can be considered for the posts of Lecturers in Geography, Economics, Psychology, Home Science, B.Ed., Commerce, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Zoology and Botany.

(2.) IN response to Annexure 4 Notification, the Petitioner submitted application for the post of Lecturer in Chemistry (Organic Chemistry branch) as a candidate belonging to Other Backward Class. She also sought the benefit of reservation available to physically handicapped persons. While short -listing the candidates, the Petitioner qualified for interview in the Other Backward Classes category and therefore, the third Respondent -Uttaranchal Public Service Commission directed her to submit application form for interview. She submitted the application form for interview and she was interviewed. However, she was not included in the list of selected candidates sent by the third Respondent to the first Respondent.

(3.) ACCORDING to the Petitioner, 3% reservation is provided for physically handicapped persons, 20% reservation is provided for women and 14% reservation is provided for Other Backward Classes. It is contended that the Petitioner is entitled to the benefit of reservation in all the three categories mentioned above. According to the Petitioner, even though there were 200 posts, only 160 candidates were included in the select list. It is stated that as against 20 posts of Lecturers in Chemistry, only 15 candidates were selected. It is further stated that, though three posts of Lecturers in Chemistry were reserved for Other Backward Classes, only two candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes have been included in the select list and one post has been carried forward. According to the Petitioner, since she belongs to an Other Backward Class and since she was short -listed and called for interview, there was no justification for carrying forward one post of Lecturer in Chemistry in Other Backward Classes category. It is contended that she should have been selected in the Other Backward Classes category against the third post which was carried forward. The Petitioner has also got a grievance that though there were 200 posts, only 160 candidates were selected by the third Respondent leaving 40 posts unfilled and even then nobody has been given the benefit of reservation for physically handicapped persons. In other words, according to the Petitioner, by not reserving 3% of the total posts of 200 for physically handicapped persons, the Respondents have violated the statutory provisions contained in Act No. 1 of 1996 and U.P. Act No. 4 of 1993.