Why reject ST woman’s merit-based application: HC

Ahmedabad: A candidate selected for the post of assistant professor in ophthalmology moved the Gujarat high court after the state cancelled her appointment for not producing a Scheduled Tribe (ST) certificate, despite her request to be considered under the general category based on her merit.The HC directed govt to keep a post in the general category vacant in a Gandhinagar Medical College and stayed the caste certificate scrutiny committee from insisting that she produce any document related to her caste.
Dr Chetanaben Karamata cleared the recruitment examinations with marks higher than the cut-off for the open (general) category. She originally applied under the ST category, and during the document verification process, the recruiting authority asked her to submit the required caste-related documents. However, she was unable to furnish the required documents at the time of document verification.Following this, Dr Karamata sought to be treated as a general category candidate, stating that her score was sufficient to qualify on open merit. She also submitted an undertaking that she would forgo all present and future benefits available under reservation. Despite this, the authorities continued to insist on the production of ST documents and did not accept her request to shift to the open category. Her appointment was ultimately denied.Challenging the decision, Dr Karamata filed a petition in the high court, alleging that the authorities adopted an inflexible approach and ignored both her higher-than-cut-off marks in the general category and her written undertaking to waive reservation benefits. She also pointed out that she was shown in the open merit category in the select list because of her score.After hearing the matter, Justice Nirzar Desai issued a notice to the state govt and sought its reply by March 12. The HC further stated, "In the meantime, the respondents are directed to keep one post vacant in open merit category for the cadre of assistant professor, ophthalmology branch, pursuant to the advertisement for which the petitioner has applied. Moreover, by way of ad-interim relief the scrutiny committee is directed not to insist upon the petitioner to ask for any documents relating to her caste since she is not claiming any benefit based on her original caste which belongs to Schedule Tribe category."