MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, on Tuesday, directed the State to implement its order, which prescribed the correct manner for providing PSTM reservation in government appointments, in the current Group I services recruitment process as well.
A Bench, comprising Justices N Kirubakaran and B Pugalendhi, gave the direction while dismissing a petition filed by the Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) seeking to exempt the commission from implementing the order in the 2020 Group I recruitment.
The TNPSC stated that the said recruitment was announced in January 2020. As per notification, candidates, who had acquired the college degree in Tamil medium, were eligible for PSTM reservation, it added. Now, the preliminary examinations are over and those who have passed them, uploaded their certificates. Hence, changing the eligibility criterion for PSTM reservation at this stage would cause hardship to both the commission as well as the candidates, the TNPSC stated. It assured that the order would be implemented in the future recruitment processes and sought exemption for the present recruitment alone.
However, the judges dismissed the petition, holding that such a relief would be in contradiction to the purpose of the enactment of the PSTM Act. They reiterated that only the candidates, who have had their entire education — from Class 1 till college or the prescribed higher qualification — in Tamil medium are eligible for the 20 per cent reservation under the PSTM Act. Therefore, they refused to modify the order and directed TNPSC to implement it for the current recruitment as well.