SC stays AP High Court order on reservation in APPSC

New Delhi, Aug 1 (UNI) The Supreme Court today stayed till further orders of the operation of the judgment of Andhra Pradesh High Court holding that reservation should be applied from the preliminary stage of the selection process of candidates for government jobs.

A bench comprising Justices S B Sinha and Cyriac Joseph also issued notices on the petition filed by Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission(APPSC), challenging the High Court order dated July 23, 2008.

According to the petitioner APPSC, the entire selection process for 196 posts of Group-A services of Andhra Pradesh government shall be in jeopardy if the impugned order is not stayed.

The State Administrative Tribunal had earlier ruled that the policy of reservation for SC/STs, OBCs and other categories can not be made applicable from the preliminary stage/test.

The apex court also directed that the examinations for selection of candidates shall be held as scheduled.

There are 9800 candidates for 196 posts, which include senior posts in police department and senior administrative posts in the state government.

The Supreme Court will now consider which is the stage from which benefits of the reservation can be granted to the candidates belonging to the reserved categories.

UNI SC KK AS1552