NAINITAL: The Uttarakhand High Court on Tuesday directed the state public service commission to revise its merit list and re-issue cut-off marks for women candidates in general without considering domicile quota.
Hearing a petition challenging the reservation of 30 per cent given to women who had the domicile of Uttarakhand, a division bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice R C Khulbe directed the commission to issue a fresh list of successful women candidates in a single category instead of listing them as domicile and non-domicile.
Last week, the high court put a stay on a government order giving 30 per cent reservation to women who have the domicile of Uttarakhand.
The petition had said the reservation granted to women with the domicile of Uttarakhand was violative of Article 16(3) of the Constitution.
Due to this, petitioners had failed to qualify in the prelims despite scoring a higher percentage than the cut-off set for women of Uttarakhand.
Challenging the government order, which was granted in 2001 and again in 2006, the petitioners had said that such a mandate is against Articles 14, 16, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.
No state government can give reservation on the basis of birth and permanent residence, the petition said demanding cancellation of the reservation.
The high court has asked the state government to file its reply before October 11 when the petition will be heard next.