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Apex court stays order to redraw UPSC merit list

Legal Correspondent

2007 results were announced in accordance with the verdict

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the operation of a Madras High Court judgment directing the UPSC to redraw the merit list of the 2005 Civil Services examination, ignoring Rule 16 (2) of the Central Civil Services examination and treating reserved candidates selected under merit as unreserved candidates.

This order was passed by a vacation Bench consisting of Justices C.K. Thakker and L.S. Panta.

(The UPSC announced the final results of the 2007 civil services examination in accordance with the impugned judgment, without resorting to Rule 16 (2).)

This rule says: “While making service allocation, candidates belonging to SC/ST or OBCs recommended against unreserved candidates may be adjusted against reserved vacancies by the government if by this process they get a service of higher choice in the order of their preference.”

Additional Solicitor-General M. Chandrasekaran, appearing for the Centre, said that in view of the March 20 judgment, “We can’t give posting to the candidates who completed their training.”

In its appeal, Centre said: “If the benefit of reservation is denied to an SC/ST/OBC candidate who qualifies on merit, then there can be a situation where a lower ranked OBC candidate gets allocated to a better service than a higher ranked OBC candidate only because the higher ranked candidate performed well enough to qualify in the general/unreserved category. Such a situation is anomalous.”

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