Service Law – Selection – Reservation – Horizontalreservation and vertical reservation – Two candidates, one belongingto the OBC-Female category and another belonging to the SC-Female category participated in the selection process in 2013 forfilling up posts of constables in Uttar Pradesh police – They hadsecured 276.5949 and 233.1908 marks respectively – The cut-offof female (general category) was 274.8928 – They both claimedselection in General Female category – Their claim was rejected bythe State – The State relied on order dated 16.03.2016 passed bythe High Court of Allahabad which held that “if the special categorycandidate belonging to OBC category scored higher marks thanhis /her counterpart adjusted in open category, cannot be shiftedto open category” – Similar view was adopted by the MadhyaPradesh High Court (view of High Court of Allahabad and MadhyaPradesh may be termed as ‘second view’) – However, the HighCourts of Rajasthan, Bombay, Uttarakhand and Gujarat (termedas ‘first view’) have adopted the view that “Reservation prescribedmay be ‘vertical’ or ‘horizontal’ if it relates to open category, thecandidate belonging to backward class cannot be precluded fromcompeting for the said posts on their own merit with rest of thecandidate” – Held: The ‘second view’ is neither based on anyauthoritative pronouncement by Supreme Court nor does it lead toa situation where the merit is given precedence – Subject to anypermissible reservations i.e. either Social (Vertical) or Special(Horizontal), opportunities to public employment and selection ofcandidates must purely be based on merit – Any selection whichresults in candidates getting selected against Open/General categorywith less merit than the other available candidates will certainly beopposed to principles of equality – There can be special dispensationwhen it comes to candidates being considered against seats or quotameant for reserved categories and in theory it is possible that amore meritorious candidate coming from Open/General categorymay not get selected – But, the converse can never be true and willbe opposed to the very basic principles which have all the whilebeen accepted by Supreme Court – Any view or process ofinterpretation which leads to incongruity must be rejected – The‘second view’ will lead to irrational results – Therefore, the ‘secondview’ is dissapproved and rejected – The ‘first view’ which weighedwith the High Courts of Rajasthan, Bombay, Uttarakhand andGujarat is correct and rational – In the instant case, all candidatescoming from ‘OBC Female Category’ who had secured more marksthan 274.8929, i.e. the marks secured by the last candidateappointed in ‘General Category Female’ must be offered employmentas constables in Uttar Pradesh Police – Since, it has been acceptedthat none of the candidates coming from ‘SC Female Category’ hadsecured more marks than 274.8298, the claims of the Applicant no.2and all similarly situated candidates are rejected – Constitution ofIndia – Reservations.Constitution of India – Reservations – Horizontal reservationand vertical reservation – Held: Reservations, both vertical andhorizontal, are method of ensuring representation in public services– These are not to be seen as rigid “slots”, where a candidate’smerit, which otherwise entitles her to be shown in the open generalcategory, is foreclosed – Doing so, would result in a communalreservation, where each social category is confined within the extentof their reservation, thus negating merit – The open category isopen to all, and the only condition for a candidate to be shown in itis merit, regardless of whether reservation benefit of either type isavailable to her or him.Constitution of India – Reservations – Difference betweenHorizontal reservation and vertical reservation – discussed.