Supreme Court: Preference rule not for reservation

The Supreme Court has clarified that the rule of preference followed in appointments was not a rule of reservation and only implies that all things being equal between two candidates selected on merit, the candidate with the higher qualification will be preferred.

"A mere rule of preference meant to give weightage to additional qualification cannot be enforced as a rule of reservation or rule of complete precedence," a top court bench said in a recent ruling.

"Preference in the context of all such competitive schemes of selection would only mean that other things being qualitatively and quantitatively equal, those with the additional qualification have to be preferred," it said. The bench comprised Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MM Sundresh.