- (1.) THE Rajasthan Public Service Commission, Ajmer by the advertisement No.9/2011-12 dated 22.07.2011 invited applications from eligible candidates to be considered for appointment as Lecturer (School Education) in various subjects. In pursuant to the advertisement aforesaid, the petitioner submitted an application for consideration of her candidature against the vacancies reserved for deserted women. On being non- consideration of the candidature under the category aforesaid, this petition for writ is preferred. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioner that as per the Rajasthan Various Service (Amendment) Rules, 2011 (for short, hereinafter referred to as 'the Rules of 2011'), an amendment has been introduced in the Rajasthan Education Service Rules, 1970 providing reservation for divorced women and in that category the candidature of the petitioner should have been considered by the respondents. A certified copy of the divorce decree granted to the petitioner by the competent court on 20.07.2012 is also placed on record.
(2.) HEARD learned counsel for the petitioner. Under the Rules of 2011, a provision in column (3) against each of the service rules referred in column (2) of the Schedule appended with the Rules of 2011 was added in following terms :- "Reservation of vacancies for women.- Reservation of vacancies for women candidates shall be 30% category wise in direct recruitment out of which 8% shall be for widow and 2% for divorced women candidates. In the event of non-availability of eligible and suitable widows and divorced women candidates in a particular year, the vacancies so reserved for widow and divorced women candidates shall be filled by other women candidates and in the event of non-availability of eligible and suitable women candidates, the vacancies so reserved for them shall be filled up by male candidates and such vacancies shall not be carried forward to the subsequent year and the reservation shall be treated as horizontal reservation i.e. the reservation of women candidates shall be adjusted proportionately in the respective category to which the women candidates belong. Explanation:- In the case of widow, she will have to furnish a certificate of death of her husband from the competent Authority and in case of divorcee she will have to furnish the proof of divorce." A bare reading of the provision aforesaid makes it clear that a divorced woman is entitled to have reservation to the extent of 2% reservation horizontal out of the vacancies reserved for women candidates. However, the petitioner in the process of selection in question was not eligible to avail the reservation aforesaid as the divorce decree in her favour was passed on 20.07.2012, whereas the process of selection was initiated on 22.07.2011 and the last date for submitting the applications under the advertisement aforesaid was 24.11.2011. On the day aforesaid, the petitioner was not a divorced woman, as such, the respondents rightly refused to consider her candidature against the vacancies reserved for divorced women. The petition for writ, therefore, is having no merit. Hence, dismissed.;