Source Edex live
PRAYAGRAJ — The Allahabad High Court has put a temporary brake on the ongoing recruitment process for Review Officers (RO) and Assistant Review Officers (ARO) under the 2023 cycle. In a significant interim order, the court stayed further joinings following allegations of irregularities in the implementation of reservation policies.
The stay order comes as a major setback for the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) and successful candidates who were in the final stages of the induction process.
The Dispute: Merit vs. Reservation
The intervention follows a cluster of petitions filed by aspiring candidates who alleged that the Commission failed to follow the prescribed horizontal and vertical reservation norms. According to the petitioners:
Quota Overlap: Candidates from reserved categories who scored higher than the general cutoff were allegedly not shifted to the unreserved list, potentially shrinking the space for other reserved category applicants.
Horizontal Discrepancies: Issues were raised regarding the specific allocation for women, ex-servicemen, and physically challenged candidates.
Transparency: Petitioners argued that the final marks and category-wise cutoffs were not disclosed with sufficient clarity before proceeding with appointments.
The Court’s Stance
Presiding over the matter, the bench observed that the recruitment process must strictly adhere to the constitutional mandate of reservation. By staying further joinings, the court aims to ensure that no “irreversible rights” are created for candidates whose selection might later be found invalid if the merit list is recalculated.
“To maintain the sanctity of the selection process and protect the interests of meritorious candidates across all categories, it is imperative to pause further appointments until the Commission provides a detailed justification of the current results,” the court noted.
Impact on Candidates
The 2023 RO-ARO recruitment has been a focal point for thousands of aspirants in Uttar Pradesh. While those who have already joined remain in a state of uncertainty, those awaiting their appointment letters are now facing an indefinite delay.
The UPPSC is expected to file a comprehensive counter-affidavit in the coming weeks, detailing the methodology used to prepare the final merit list.
What’s Next?
The High Court has scheduled the next hearing for further scrutiny of the selection data. Legal experts suggest that if the Commission is unable to prove the legality of its reservation distribution, the court may order a revision of the entire merit list, which could lead to the inclusion of several petitioners and the exclusion of some currently selected candidates.
