HC: Reservation for lecturer posts should be subject-wise

HC: Reservation for lecturer posts should be subject-wise

Vasantha.Kumar@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:23.05.2021

Reservation should be subject/discipline wise and clubbing of vacancies and operating the roster is contrary to Supreme Court judgments, the high court observed while coming to the rescue of a mathematics lecturer of an aided PU college in Mandya.

MS Rashmi, who has been working as a lecturer since September 2007 at PES College, had challenged the September 22, 2019 notification calling for applications from candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes (women) in mathematics. She claimed it is a single-cadre post and fixing reservation for a particular category would be tantamount to 100% reservation, which is impermissible.

Allowing her petition, Justice M Nagaprasanna said the SC, while hearing a plea filed by Vijay Prakash Bharati, approved the view taken by Allahabad HC in the case of Vivekananda Tiwari Vs Union of India that reservation has to be subject-wise.

The judge rejected the contentions put forward by the state government and college management. Both had claimed that as long as government orders are in force, which direct clubbing of vacancies, even a single post can be notified in favour of SC or ST candidates. While granting liberty to the management to undertake a fresh exercise, the judge said till that time, Rashmi’s services should not be disturbed.

In 2013, the college had called for applications from eligible candidates in all subjects. Rashmi and four others challenged the process and the high court stayed it. TNN