Scheduled Caste sports quota post for DSP validly reserved for women, rules apex court

In a significant ruling upholding gender-based horizontal reservation, the Supreme Court has affirmed that the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), advertised under the “Scheduled Caste Sports” category, was validly reserved for women pursuant to the Punjab Civil Services (Reservation of Posts for Women) Rules, 2020.

The apex court upheld the reasoning adopted by Justice Pankaj Jain – the Single Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, who had dismissed a writ petition filed by a male candidate challenging the reservation of the DSP post for SC Sports (Women). The judgment assumes importance as it settles the controversy stemming from two conflicting stands taken by the Punjab Government departments — with the Home Department supporting the reservation for women under the 2020 Rules, and the Department of Social Justice contending that the reservation should have remained gender-neutral.

A Division Bench hearing the plea against Justice Jain’s no-upheld order had even called upon the Chief Secretary to resolve the conflict. He had supported the Social Justice Department’s stand on the ground that a mistake had crept into the advertisement and the DSP post should have been reserved for “SC Sports” only, and not “SC Sports (Women)”.

Appearing for the women candidate before the Supreme Court Bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice K Vinod Chandran, senior advocate PS Patwalia – on the other hand- submitted that the Single Judge had considered the contradictory stands before passing a well-reasoned order. The Chief Secretary’s stand before the Division Bench was incorrect since the “roster” was issued nearly two months after the last date of submitting application forms.

Referring to the 2020 Rules notified on October 21, 2020, the court emphasised that the State was mandated to implement 33 per cent reservation for women across all categories, including Scheduled Castes, through horizontal and compartmentalised reservation. The category “SC Sports (Women)” was created specifically to satisfy the mandate. The male candidate, who applied under the broader “SC Sports” category, could not claim entitlement to the women-specific post.

The judgment further clarified that the recruitment process was governed by advertisement dated December 11, 2020, which superseded the earlier advertisement dated June 4, 2020. While both the male candidate (private respondent) and the appellant had applied under advertisement no. 08, their applications were considered valid under the revised advertisement as per a State policy that waived the need to reapply. However, the DSP post under the SC Sports quota had, by then, been validly earmarked for women candidates.

The SC Bench also rejected the male candidate’s reliance on a 100-point roster issued on January 29, 2021 — after the closing date of applications under the advertisement — stating that the recruitment process could not be altered midstream. “The recruitment process had begun with the publication of the advertisement calling for applications and the process ends with filling of the vacancies. The selection process had begun and midway changes could not have taken place,” the court ruled.

The Bench added the appellant-woman candidate was required to be accepted as the only person qualified in her category, once it was accepted that the DSP post in question was reserved for “SC Sports (Women)” as per advertisement.

Punjab