Rajasthan High Court vs Rajat Yadav 2025 INSC 1503 - Public Employment - Reservation - Open Category - Estoppel

Public Employment - Reservation -Vacant posts which are sought to be filled by earmarking it as ‘open’ do not fall in any category. For all intents and purposes, the vacancies on posts which are notified/advertised as open or unreserved or general, as the terms suggest, are not reserved for any caste/tribe/class/gender and are, thus, open to all notwithstanding that a cross-section of society can also compete for appointment on vacant posts which are ‘reserved’ – vertical or horizontal – as mentioned in the notification/advertisement (Para 62)- Mere indication of one’s reserved category in the application form does not automatically qualify the candidate for appointment on a reserved vacant post but only enables him/her to stake a claim amongst all reserved candidates based on the inter se merit position. Equally, for a deserving reserved category candidate to be appointed on an unreserved vacant post, it is merit and merit alone that must determine suitability. In other words, for the unreserved vacant posts, the inter se merit among all the competing candidates serves as the benchmark for appointment in public service. (Para 49) Adjustment of a reserve category candidate in the unreserved category based on his/her merit - A meritorious candidate, notwithstanding that he/she belongs to a reserved category, be it Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe or Other Backward Class, must of necessity (arising out of the concept of equality before law and equal protection of the laws in Article 14, and extended to Article 16 in matters of public employment) be treated as a candidate who has competed for the ‘unreserved’ category and not the ‘reserved’ category, thereby obviating the need for any ‘migration’ or, so to say, shift or adjustment.(Para 65) Where adjustment against the unreserved category would result in a more meritorious reserved category candidate being displaced in favour of a less meritorious candidate within the same category for a preferred service or a preferred post within the reserved quota, the former must be permitted to be considered against the service/post in the reserved quota. This would ensure merit being preserved both across categories and within them, and that reservation functions as a means of inclusion rather than an instrument of disadvantage. (Para 74) If, at all, the recruitment rules governing any selection process ordain otherwise than what is observed above, obviously the recruitment rules would have precedence subject to the condition that such rule passes the test of constitutionality (Para 69)Where adjustment against the unreserved category would result in a more meritorious reserved category candidate being displaced in favour of a less meritorious candidate within the same category for a preferred service or a preferred post within the reserved quota, the former must be permitted to be considered against the service/post in the reserved quota. This would ensure merit being preserved both across categories and within them, and that reservation functions as a means of inclusion rather than an instrument of disadvantage (Para 74) [SC observed that not treating meritorious reserved category candidates as General/Open category candidates, despite noticing that the former had outperformed and outshone the latter is illegal]

Public Employment - Recruitment - Estoppel - Candidates who participated in a selection process cannot later challenge the procedure adopted merely because the result is not palatable to them. It has been held there, generally, that the principle of estoppel operates against such a candidate who, having taken a calculated chance of selection by participating in the selection process and failed to secure selection, challenges the process of selection in Court on the ground of a flawed procedure being adopted by the recruiting/selecting authority. (Para 42) This rule is not absolute - Participation of a candidate in a selection process implies acceptance of the prescribed procedure, but not of any illegality in the conduct of the said procedure or constitutional infirmity underlying it. Where the challenge pertains to a misconstruction of statutory rules or violation of constitutional principles, the plea of estoppel cannot operate as a bar. (Para 43) A candidate would be estopped from challenging a selection process post- participation, unless he can show that despite due diligence, he could not have known earlier of the illegality in the procedure that came to be adopted or that the procedural flaw striking at the root of the selection process was hidden and surfaced only after completion of the process of selection; hence, no challenge could have been laid by him prior to his participation in the process. (Para 45)

Public Employment - Reservation - Migration - The word ‘migration’ refers to a candidate claiming benefits or entitlements-“Inter-State Reservation Migration” envisaging a portability of reservation benefits: a person belonging to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe in relation to his original State, of which he is a permanent or ordinary resident, cannot be deemed to be so in relation to any other State on his migration to that State for the purpose of employment, education, etc. - if a person certified as Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe in one State migrates to another State, then he would not be entitled to the benefit available to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe in the State to which he has migrated unless he belongs to the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe in that State. (Para 65)

Words and Phrases - ‘Migration’ - The act of moving from one place to another, often involving a change of residence or location. This can apply to various contexts like human migration, animal migration, data migration, etc. In general, migration involves a change of location, often with the intention of settling or establishing a new presence in the new location. In the context of reservation in public employment, the word ‘migration’ refers to a candidate claiming benefits or entitlements. (Para 63-64)