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Neeraj and Ors vs. High Court of Delhi and Anr.

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2026:DHC:8019-DBDecided 18 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
W.P.(C) 7078/2024CNR: DLHC010287402024
Justice Avneesh Jhingan · Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora

Background

The petitioners were General category candidates placed on the waiting list in the 2023 Delhi Higher Judicial Service (DHJS) recruitment exam, in which 6 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates went unfilled because no ST candidate qualified. Citing an RTI response showing no ST candidate had been appointed to DHJS since 2010, the petitioners sought "de-reservation" of these unfilled ST seats so they could be appointed from the General waiting list instead. Their representation to the High Court's Registrar General was rejected, leading to this petition. By the time it was heard, two more recruitment cycles (2024 and 2026) had taken place.

Decision Breakdown

The Court dismissed the petition, holding that the 2023 waiting list had long since lapsed since that recruitment process was complete, and that subsequent recruitments (2024, 2026) had already reduced the ST backlog to just 4 vacancies, undermining the claim of indefinite non-filling. Relying on a binding Division Bench precedent (Rabindra Tiwary v. Lt. Governor) and a Government of India Office Memorandum, the Court held there is a complete ban on de-reserving SC/ST vacancies in direct recruitment, and that even if de-reservation were ever approved, it could only apply to future recruitment cycles, not be diverted to fill a past, already-concluded selection. The petitioners, having themselves participated in the 2024 and 2026 exams without objection, could not "turn the clock back" to claim seats from the 2023 cycle.

Lesson Learnt

Reserved (SC/ST) vacancies in direct government recruitment cannot be reallocated to general category candidates even if they go unfilled for years: the law treats such backlog vacancies as carried forward for future recruitment of the same category, not as a pool available to other candidates.

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