Supreme Court Lifts Stay On 30% Quota For Women Domiciled In Uttarakhand In State Services

The Supreme Court on Friday lifted the stay which the Uttarakhand High Court had imposed on the Government Order which provided 30% reservation to the women domiciled in State of Uttarakhand in State Services.

A bench of Justice S. Abdul Nazeer and Justice V. Ramasubramanian also issued notice to the Respondent seeking reply on the Special Leave Petition filed by the State of Uttarakhand.

The State filed the plea assailing the interim order passed by the Division Bench of the High Court staying the 2006 order of the State of Uttarakhand. The High Court had stayed the GO on the prima facie view that the government order was contrary to the mandate of Article 16(2) of the Constitution of India.

The State had challenged the interim order passed by the bench of Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Ramesh Chandra Khulbe, stating that, "The High Court in the garb of interim relief has granted final relief at interim stage, especially when no prima facie case has been made out by the party asking for the said relief, is not sustainable in law. The impugned order deserves to be set aside on this very ground itself."

The petition also pointed out that the High Court has not taken into consideration the fact that the GO of 2006 was not challenged for around 15 years. The petition also highlighted that the GO also provided for Geographical Classification on the basis of place of residence which is permissible under the Constitution of India.

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta and Standing Counsel Vanshaja Shukla appeared for the State of Uttarakhand

BACKGROUND

The Division Bench of the High Court was hearing a writ petition filed by Pavitra Chauhan, Ananya Attri and others from outside the state belonging to the unreserved category who appeared for the state civil examination.

It was their case that despite securing higher marks in the preliminary test of the state civil examination than the cut-off marks (79) for women candidates with state domicile, they were denied the right to appear for the main examination.

Thus, they challenged two GOs on the ground that they provide horizontal reservation [in the examination conducted for the posts of Uttarakhand Combined Service, Senior Service of the State Public Service Commission] on the basis of the 'domicile' of women candidates in the State of Uttarakhand.

Case Title : State of Uttarakhand vs Pavitra Chauhan and Ors - SLP (C) No. 18143/2022

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