New Delhi, Sept 21: In an important ruling affecting millions of students appearing for civil services examinations across the country, the Supreme Court has said public service
commissions cannot lay down minimum efficiency standards for selection of suitable candidates as it was a policy matter to be decided by the government.
The apex court upheld a judgment of the Punjab and
Haryana High Court that reversed the Punjab State Public
Service Commission's decision to prescribe a screening test
and fix 45 per cent minimum qualifying cut-off marks for
general category and 40 per cent for SC candidates for
recruitment of medical officers in 1997.
"It would be a matter of policy to be decided by the
state government as to what measures, if necessary, may be
provided regarding reservations vis-a-vis maintenance of
efficiency in services," a division bench of Justice Brijesh
Kumar and Justice Arun Kumar said while deciding five
identical appeals on the issue.
"Where no special qualification or any prescribed
standard of efficiency over and above the eligibility criteria
is provided by the rules or the state, it would not be for the
commission to impose any extra qualification supposedly for
maintaining minimum efficiency which, it thinks may be
necessary, the bench further said."
The commission had in 1997 invited applications for
recruitment of 500 medical officers out of which 125 were
reserved for SC candidates. Sixty two SC posts were meant for
Balmikis and Majhabi Sikhs while the remaining were for the
general category of SCs.
Bureau Report
