PWD‑LV Candidates From SC/ST/OBC Can Compete Equally In Unreserved Posts: SC

A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh heard an appeal by the West Bengal State Electricity Transmission Co. Ltd. challenging a Division Bench order of the Calcutta High Court that had directed the appointment of an unreserved PWD‑LV candidate to a UR (PWD‑LV) post despite a more meritorious PWD‑LV candidate belonging to OBC‑A being available. The appeal concerned the interpretation of a recruitment note which stated that "in case of non‑availability of qualified UR (PWD‑LV) candidate, the vacancy will be filled up by PWD candidates of other categories as per merit."

The Court allowed the appeal, set aside the Division Bench order dated 07.05.2024, and restored the Single Bench order dated 11.12.2023. It held that a post earmarked as UR (PWD‑LV) under horizontal reservation was open to all candidates who satisfied the PWD‑LV criterion, irrespective of their vertical social category, and therefore had to be filled based on merit. The Court emphasised that mobility to unreserved posts was permissible and that merit remained "the sole criterion for appointment under the Unreserved category." 

The Court, in its reasoning, observed: “Therefore, in our considered opinion, what the aforesaid condition in the recruitment notification would mean is that even though qualified PWD‑LV candidates under the Unreserved category may be available, if a PWD‑LV candidate is belonging to other social reserved category available who is better in merit than the Unreserved PWD‑LV candidate available, the said post is to be filled up by the more meritorious reserved PWD‑LV candidate by ignoring the claim of the less meritorious Unreserved candidate by virtue of merit. Qua a vacancy/post under ‘Unreserved’ category for the PWD‑LV candidates, all PWD‑LV candidates are equal and have similar rights even if they belong to different socially reserved categories, and the most meritorious amongst them has to be preferred.”

Background:
The appellant authority issued Notification No. REC/2023/01 for recruitment to Junior Engineer (Civil) Grade II, providing 30 posts with both vertical (social) and horizontal (special) reservations. One post was marked UR (PWD‑LV); OBC‑A had five posts, but no separate horizontal PWD‑LV slot. Respondent No.1, a PWD‑LV candidate applying under UR (PWD‑LV), scored 55.667; Respondent No.3, an OBC‑A candidate who also fell in the PWD‑LV category, scored 66.667. The authority offered the UR (PWD‑LV) appointment to Respondent No.3 based on his higher merit. Respondent No.1 contested the appointment by writ before the Calcutta High Court.

A Single Bench of the High Court dismissed the writ petition, allowing appointment of the higher‑scoring OBC‑A PWD‑LV candidate to the UR (PWD‑LV) post. On intra‑court appeal, a Division Bench interpreted the recruitment note to mean that the UR (PWD‑LV) vacancy should be filled only by a qualified unreserved PWD‑LV candidate if one existed, and it directed appointment of Respondent No.1. The State appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court reviewed established principles on vertical and horizontal reservations, citing Indra Sawhney and Saurav Yadav 2020 CaseBase(SC) 750, and explained that an Unreserved/Open horizontal reservation remained open to all social categories, provided candidates met the horizontal criterion. It noted that "Unreserved/Open category does not refer to any social/communal category like SCs, STs or OBCs" and that migration to unreserved posts was permitted on merit. The Court clarified that reserved candidates must not have availed relaxations that would render them unqualified for an unreserved post; no such disqualification was shown on the record. Concluding that the Division Bench had misread the notification, the Court held that the more meritorious PWD‑LV candidate from OBC‑A was rightly appointed to the UR (PWD‑LV) vacancy and restored the Single Bench order. The appeal was allowed and pending applications were disposed of.

Case Details:
Case No.: CIVIL APPEAL NO.10262 OF 2025
NeutralCitation: 2026 INSC 330
Case Title: The West Bengal State Electricity Transmission Co. Ltd. & Ors. v. Dipendu Biswas & Ors.

Source: 2026 CaseBase(SC) 286