Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 10: A Division Bench of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court comprising Chief Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi has quashed the selection and appointment of Ambir Khan against the post of Civil Judge (Junior Division) in the ST category.
This landmark judgment has been passed in a petition filed by Stanzin Itzes Chosket seeking quashment of the result of the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Judicial) Examination-2023 notified vide Notification No: PSC/Exam/2024/04 dated 03.04.2024, as far as the selection of respondent is concerned and also seeking a direction to recommend and select petitioner against advertised post of Civil Judge (Junior Division) in the ST category on the strength of her merit in the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Judicial) Examination-2023.
After hearing Senior Advocate Rahul Pant with Advocates Dhruv Pant, Anirudh Sharma and Shail Mustaq for the petitioner whereas Advocate General for the UT, the Division Bench observed, “Public Service Commission appears to have committed an error by adopting the approach that the eligible ST candidates can be considered only in the respective areas”, adding “while there is a specific reservation for the ST candidates hailing from Leh district and Kargil district which is area specific, there is no such reservation for other STs residing in other areas & districts of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir”.
“The reservation for ST category under Rule 4 (b) is not area-specific except for the sub-category of reservation for the districts of Leh and Kargil for which special provisions have been made as provided under Explanation D to Rule 4. Merely because area specific reservations have been made for the STs hailing from Leh and Kargil districts, it does not necessarily mean that in respect of the remaining ST posts, these are also area specific for other remaining districts of UT Jammu and Kashmir”, the DB said.
Had it been so, the rule makers would have clearly mentioned that the remaining ST posts would be reserved for the STs residing in the districts of Jammu and Kashmir other than the residents of Leh and Kargil. Accordingly, it was wrong on the part of the Commission to confine the STs from other areas of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir as another category for the purpose of selection against the remaining 5 posts out of the total 7 posts reserved for the STs.
“While it is true that the reservation is area specific for the STs hailing from the districts of Leh and Kargil, yet, the converse is not true in as much as there is no other area-specific reservation for non-Leh and Kargil districts. Thus, while there is reservation for the STs of the districts of Leh and Kargil, there is no such reservation for the Scheduled Tribes of other districts of Jammu and Kashmir in the common cadre”, the DB said.
DB further observed that the approach of the Commission that out of the total posts advertised for the Scheduled Tribes, one person each from these two districts has been reserved by ensuring that these posts are not taken away by the STs of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and vice versa, is erroneous, adding “the question of STs of Leh and Kargil districts eating into the posts of STs of other districts of Jammu and Kashmir does not arise, as there is no such area-specific reservation for the STs residing in other districts of UT of Jammu and Kashmir”.
“The submissions of the Public Service Commission as well as respondent are devoid of merit”, the DB concluded and directed the PSC to select and recommend the name of the petitioner for appointment against the advertized post of Civil Judge (Junior Division) in the ST category.
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