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REKHA SHARMA versus THE RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT, JODHPUR & ANR.

Citation: [2024] 8 S.C.R. 488 · Decided: 21-08-2024 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: BELA M. TRIVEDI · Disposal: Dismissed

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Judgment (excerpt)

[2024] 8 S.C.R. 488 : 2024 INSC 615
Rekha Sharma 
v. 
The Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur & Anr.
(Civil Appeal No. 5051 of 2023)
21 August 2024
[Bela M. Trivedi* and Satish Chandra Sharma, JJ.]
Issue for Consideration
The High Court while declaring the result of Preliminary Examination 
for the post of the cadre of Civil Judge, showed the cut off marks 
for each of the categories mentioned in the advertisement, however 
did not show the cut off marks for the category of Persons with 
benchmark disabilities. Issue arose as to the legality of the action 
of the High Court.
Headnotes†
Constitution of India – Art. 16 (1), (4) – Reservation for the 
persons with disabilities – Direct recruitment to the cadre 
of Civil Judge – Appellants, suffering from disabilities  
participated in the selection process under the disabled 
category and were declared unsuccessful in Preliminary 
examination – In the results declared, the cut off marks shown 
for each of the categories mentioned in the advertisement, 
however did not show for the category of persons with 
benchmark disabilities – Aggrieved thereagainst, writ petition 
by the appellants, dismissed by the High Court – Legality of:
Held: No illegality or infirmity in the impugned judgments and 
orders passed by the High Court  – Candidates who consciously 
took part in the process of selection cannot be permitted to 
question the advertisement or the methodology adopted by the 
respondents for making selection, on their having been declared 
as unsuccessful in the Preliminary Examinations – Reservation 
for the persons with disabilities has been treated as Horizontal 
Reservation-reservation under Clause (1) of Art. 16, and not the 
Vertical reservation-reservation under Clause (4) of Art. 16  – 
Reservation in favour of the Persons with disabilities was an 
Overall Horizontal Reservation and was not compartmentalised 
* Author
[2024] 8 S.C.R. 
489
Rekha Sharma v. The Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur & Anr.
reservation – Respondents-High Court have declared the cut off 
marks for the persons falling under Compartmentalised Horizontal 
Reservation and not for the Overall Horizontal Reservation under 
which the appellants fall – Persons with benchmark disabilities 
for being adjusted in the category for which he or she had 
applied, had to secure the minimum cut off marks fixed for such 
category under which he or she had applied – Such fixation 
of cut off marks for other categories and non-fixation of cut off 
marks for the category of persons with benchmark disability 
could neither be said to be arbitrary nor violative of any of the 
fundamental rights of the appellants – Furthermore, nothing in 
the advertisement, Rules of 2010 under which the recruitment 
process was undertaken, also none of the notifications or 
amendment in the RJS Rules, 2010 make it mandatory on part 
of the respondents to declare separate cut off marks for the 
Persons with benchmark disabilities – No provision either in the 
Act of 2016 or in the Rules of 2018 could be said to have been 
violated by the respondents by not fixing the cut off marks for 
the Persons with benchmark disabilities – Respondents thus, 
rightly showed the cut off marks for all the categories except for 
the category of persons with benchmark disabilities – Rights of 
Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 – Rajasthan Rights of Persons 
with Disabilities Rules, 2018 – Rajasthan Judicial Services Rules, 
2010 – Judiciary. [Paras 8-12, 15-17]
Constitution of India – Art.16 – Reservation – Horizontal 
Reservation – Overall reservations and Compartmentalised 
reservations – Concept of:
Held: Horizontal Reservation is of two types-Compartmentalised 
Horizontal Reservation and Overall Horizontal Reservation – Under 
Compartmentalised Horizontal Reservation, the proportionate 
vacancies are reserved in each vertical reserved category  – 
However, in case of Overall Horizontal Reservation, the 
Reservation is provided on the total post advertised i.e. such 
reservation is not specific to each vertical category – Where the 
seats reserved for the Horizontal Reservations are proportionately 
divided amongst the Vertical (Social) Reservations and are not 
intertransferable, it would be a case of Compartmentalised 
Reservations, whereas in the Overall Reservation, while allocating 
the special reservation candidates to their respective social 
490
[2024] 8 S.C.R.
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reservation category, the Overall Reservation in fa

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