MBC / DNC candidates with high marks should be a part of the general merit list: SC

The Supreme Court has held that most backward class / autocratic community (MBC / DNC) candidates who have secured high marks should be part of the general merit list and should not insist on filling backlog vacancies prescribed for reserved communities.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul was interpreting Section 27 (f) of the Tamil Nadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016.

The apex court, in its recent judgment, affirmed the Madras High Court’s nine-year-old ruling in the KR Shanti case that “candidates selected on merit under open quota should not be accommodated against the reserved vacancy.”

The case relates to the move by the Government of Tamil Nadu to fill backlog vacancies for postgraduate assistants in chemistry with meritorious MBC / BNC candidates.

The Madras High Court had held that the state had acted unfairly. The High Court concluded that meritorious candidates should be placed on the general merit list. The state appealed to the apex court.

Justice Kaul pointed out that the legislative intent of section 27 (f), which mandated the creation of “backlog vacancies”, is “an insufficient number of candidates in the event of not promoting the social philosophy of vacancies for the reserved category.”

However, the provision did not consider advancing meritorious MBC / DNC candidates to fill the backlog vacancies, despite their high marks. These candidates who have proved that they can compete with others on equal terms, should get a place in the general merit list.

The court said that the general merit list should come first after an examination, followed by the backlog for reserved categories and the list of current vacancies.

The court said in a sequential order, “The general merit list has to be filled first. After that the backlog vacancies of the special reserved category are to be filled.

The apex court agreed with the High Court that the state had wrongly concluded that backlog vacancies for PG Chemistry assistants should be filled by MBC / DNC category candidates, irrespective of merit or rank.