Allahabad High Court Mandates Separate Merit List for Women EWS Candidates

The Allahabad High Court has intervened in the 2021 recruitment process for sub-inspectors and platoon commanders, demanding a separate merit list for women candidates from the Economically Weaker Section (EWS). The decision came after complaints about unjust treatment of women EWS candidates in the combined merit listing with the general category.

Justice SS Shamshery, while addressing the grievances raised by petitioner Neha Sharma and others, highlighted that only 34 women from the EWS category benefited under a supposed 20% reservation policy that was clubbed with the general category. The court instructed the government to address this oversight.

The court criticized the state for failing to provide legal justification for merging the women's reservations across different categories, acknowledging the mishandling of reserved seat allocations. This move aims to correct the oversight, ensuring that all reserved category women receive their rightful reservation benefits.

(With inputs from agencies.)