Temporary Service During COVID-19 Pandemic No Grounds To Ask For Bonus Marks Or Reservation For Post Of Nurse: Rajasthan High Court

Rajasthan High Court rejected petition by a disabled candidate for the post of Female Nurse suffering from 61% polio in both her legs, on the grounds that the guidelines specifying the disabilities eligible for reservation of the post reflected only single-leg disability and held that merely because she temporarily served on the post during Covid, she could not be conferred with any equity.

The bench of Justice Arun Monga also highlighted that other similarly situated candidates as the petitioner were also disqualified under the same criteria. Hence, allowing petitioner's claim would lead to reverse discrimination against those who were not before the Court.

The petitioner had applied for the post of Female Health Worker (Nurse) (“the Post”) under the specially abled category but her candidature was rejected owing to her suffering from 61% disability in both of her legs.

An application was submitted by her seeking consideration of bonus marks for the work rendered by her during the pandemic. The Department considered the same but rejected it on the ground that her disability rendered her ineligible for the Post.

After perusing the records, the Court referred to the guidelines published in Gazette Notification dated January 7, 2021, that laid down the disabilities considered to be eligible for reservation for the Post and observed that the guidelines provided for only single-leg disability.

In this light, it was opined that since the petitioner was disabled in both her legs, it rendered her unsuitable for the nature of the Post. And solely her service on the Post during Covid-19, though not on a permanent basis, did not confer a right to her to demand reservation in violation of the guidelines.

It was further held that,

“Pertinently, it is also to be noted that other candidates with similar disabilities have been disqualified under the same criteria Granting the petitioner's claim would result in reverse discrimination against similarly disqualified candidates who are not before this Court.”

Finally, the Court stressed upon the fact that no challenge was made to the advertisement for the Post or the guidelines specifying the eligible disabilities for the Post.

Accordingly, the petition was dismissed.

Title: Smt. Jaswant Kaur v State of Rajasthan & Ors.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Raj) 383

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