Petition in Madras HC questions UPSC norms

CHENNAI/NEW DELHI: Slamming the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for having given a go-by to the settled reservation rules for SC, ST and other backward communities, the Madras HC directed it to re-work its merit lists to appoint 457 candidates. The court quashed the merit lists issued by the UPSC on May 8, 2006 and April 3, 2007 which dealt with the 2004 notification of the UPSC. The issue raised in the batch of writ petitions pertained to the amended rule 16(2) of the Civil Services Examination Rules. As per the amendment, candidates from reserved classes could claim priority in service allocation, but once such preferential allotment was made, their appointment would be adjusted against reserved vacancies. Applying the amended rule, the UPSC allotted preference services to the 32 candidates, who cleared the civil services examination on their own merit though they belonged to reserved communities. The commission then came out with another merit list containing 32 candidates from unreserved category. Challenging the merit lists, the petitioners said reserved candidates qualifying on their merit should be considered open category candidates and that the preference allotment would not entitle the government to fill reserved posts with candidates from unreserved categories. The amended provision sought to overrule the SC ruling on the point, they argued. THE TIMES OF INDIA; 21 Mar 2008, 0407 hrs IST , TNN