What is Horizontal Reservation and How it Applies?

 

INTRODUCTION

 

On today’s show, we will discuss about horizontal reservation. We hear this term very often and many a times, people get confused between horizontal and vertical reservation. Let us understand its meaning.

 

Briefly stated ‘reservation’ is a form of affirmative action through which unrepresented classes are provided representation in employment and education by the State. The term ‘Horizontal Reservation’ has not been defined in any statute and is a creature of judicial articulation. There are plethora of case-laws that have explained the principle of horizontal reservation. I have provided a list in my blog post of the important case-laws. Anybody interested could peruse them.

 

PRINCIPLE OF HORIZONTAL RESERVATION

 

Generally speaking, Horizontal Reservation is referable to Article 16 (1) of the Constitution of India that provides that “there shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State.” Its roots could also be traced to Article 41 of the Constitution that provides that “the State shall, within the limits of its economic capacity and development, make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement, and in other cases of undeserved want.”

 

Thus, Horizontal Reservation is a way of ensuring equality and effectively provisioning of work and education for the needy ones. On the other hand, vertical reservation is reservation under Article 16 (4) of the Constitution of India in favour of socially backward classes that are not adequately represented. In order to understand the difference between the two, I have also drawn a Chart that could be perused in case of any confusion. Horizontal and Vertical Reservation could be pictorially represented as follows: -

It is pertinent to note that if a person entitled for vertical reservation competes for non-reserved posts and gets selected, then such person will not be counted against the quota reserved for vertical reservation; however, the same is not true for horizontal reservation. If a woman is selected under vertical reservation, then she would also be counted against the horizontal reservation quota for women. Thus, the horizontal reservations cut across the vertical reservations and therefore, are also called as interlocking reservations.

 

Let us now understand the types of horizontal reservation.

 

TYPES OF HORIZONTAL RESERVATION

 

1. Compartmentalized Horizontal Reservation – This is where the seats reserved for horizontal reservations are proportionately divided among the vertical (social) reservations and are not inter se transferable.

 

2. Overall Horizontal Reservation – In this form of reservation, the seats for vertical reservation are allocated first and thereafter the overall horizontal reservation is calculated. Obviously, the inter se quota of various categories of vertical reservation like SC ST OBC remained unaltered.

 

Now, let us understand the methodology for filling up the seats in any state employment or appointment.

 

METHODOLOGY FOR FILLING UP THE SEATS

 

1. Fill up the Open Category (50%) Quota on Merit Basis.

 

2. Then Fill up Vertical Reservation (OBC, SC, ST).

 

3A. Compartmentalized Horizontal Reservation – The process of verification and adjustment/accommodation as discussed to each of the vertical reservations above should be applied separately.

 

3B. Overall Horizontal Reservation

 

i. Find out how many candidates entitled for Horizontal Reservation are present in the Open Category and Vertical Reservation.

ii. If the Overall Horizontal Reservation is not satisfied, then the requisite number of horizontal reservation candidates will be adjusted against their categories by deleting the corresponding candidates therefrom.

 

Thus, in this manner, the horizontally reserved seats are filled. So, what are my concluding remarks.

 

CONCLUSION

 

We see that the policy of India to provide horizontal reservation stems from various constitutional and international obligations. There are various treaties and conventions that deal with women empowerment and rights of the disabled persons. These people constitute a special class in themselves and hence, it is important to provide them representation in governmental setups. Basically, both vertical and horizontal reservations, are methods of ensuring representation in public services and the Open Category is not be confused as a class as it is open to all and the only condition to be shown is merit regardless of the category to which a person belongs.

LIST OF CASES

Vinita Nair v. Registrar, University of Rajasthan, 2014 SCC OnLine Raj 6713

Rajesh Kumar Daria v. Rajasthan Public Service Commission, (2007) 8 SCC 785

Indra Sawhney v. Union of India, 1992 Supp (3) SCC 217

Anil Kumar Gupta v. State of U.P., (1995) 5 SCC 173 

Saurav Yadav and Others v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Others, 2020 SCC OnLine SC 1034