#disability reservation

The CAT Principal Bench held that candidates seeking reservation under the PwD quota must strictly meet the exact locomotor disability specifications (One Arm/One Leg) notified in the recruitment advertisement; a general medical board certification for a different disability category (both legs affected) does not qualify the candidate for the reserved post.

The Himachal Pradesh High Court ruled that reservations for persons with physical disabilities are a horizontal reservation under Article 16(4) and therefore cannot be further earmarked for Scheduled Caste candidates. This invalidates any sub-reservation scheme that tries to allocate a share of disability seats to SCs, affecting future recruitment drives that combine disability and caste criteria.

The Punjab & Haryana High Court ruled that candidates cannot alter their chosen recruitment category post-selection, even due to disability or third-party error. The judgment reinforces that advertisement terms are final, binding candidates to their initial category choice under Article 226, impacting disability rights and service law jurisprudence.