{"id":345847,"date":"2025-04-15T18:00:30","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T12:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=345847"},"modified":"2025-04-16T17:28:29","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T11:58:29","slug":"sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Eligibility criteria declared by fresh advertisement cannot be changed midway through recruitment process\u2019; Supreme Court upholds reservation of DSP post for SC Sports (Women)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;\">\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Supreme Court:<\/span> In an appeal filed against the order passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court concerning the reservation of posts in the State of Punjab&#8217;s government services, including provisions for women&#8217;s reservation, the Division Bench of <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Sudhanshu Dhulia*<\/span> and K. Vinod Chandran, JJ. emphasized that no alterations could be made to the recruitment process once the advertisement was issued and deemed it unnecessary to examine the legality of the subsequent roster system for the purpose of the case. Since neither the advertisement nor the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-9001400519\" target=\"_blank\">Punjab Civil Services (Reservation of Posts for Women) Rules, 2020<\/a> (&#8216;2020 Rules&#8217;) providing 33% horizontal reservation for women were challenged, the reservation stood valid.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">Thus, the Court concluded that once it is accepted that the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) post in question was reserved for the &#8216;SC Sports (Women)&#8217; category under Advertisement No.14 dated 11-12-2020, the appellant stood as the only eligible candidate for appointment, being the sole SC woman who had successfully qualified for the post.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">Accordingly, the Court allowed the appeal, set aside the impugned order of the Division Bench of the High Court, and upheld the judgment of the learned Single Judge dated 03-03-2023.<\/p>\n<h3>Background<\/h3>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The present appeal arises from the order of the Division Bench of the High Court, which remanded the matter to the Single Judge for fresh adjudication of the writ petitions filed by both the appellant and the private respondent. The matter originated from the reservation of one post of DSP under the &#8216;Scheduled Caste Sports&#8217; category in Advertisement dated 11-12-2020, which, pursuant to the Rules, 2020, was reserved for women candidates. The appellant, being the top-ranking female candidate in the &#8216;SC Sports&#8217; category, became eligible for the said post, while the private respondent, although ranked first among male candidates, was not considered due to the gender-specific reservation. The Single Judge had dismissed the private respondent&#8217;s writ petition, holding that the reservation was validly made and that the post was rightly reserved for &#8216;SC Sports (Women)&#8217; in accordance with the prevailing rules at the time. However, the Division Bench, noting contradictory positions taken by the Home Department and the Department of Social Justice, sought the opinion of the Chief Secretary, who opined that the post should have been reserved for the general &#8216;SC Sports&#8217; category rather than being restricted to women. Based on this, the Division Bench remanded the matter for reconsideration. Aggrieved by this, the appellant has approached this Court, challenging the remand order on the ground that the reservation in question was consistent with the law as it stood on the date of advertisement and application.<\/p>\n<h3>Analysis and Decision<\/h3>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court observed that although the Chief Secretary of the State filed an affidavit before the Division Bench, stating that the reservation of the DSP post for &#8216;SC Sports (Women)&#8217; under advertisement dated 11-12-2020 was erroneous and that a fresh advertisement should be issued, no steps were ever taken by the State to actually withdraw the said advertisement. Importantly, the private respondent did not challenge advertisement in its entirety, nor did any other candidate. As such, advertisement dated 11-12-2020 continued to govern the recruitment process, and the respective rights of the appellant and the private respondent must be adjudicated under its terms alone.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court further noted that the 100-point roster, which the private respondent relied upon, came into effect only on 29-01-2021, well after the last date for submitting applications under advertisement dated 11-12-2020 which was 30-12-2020. Therefore, this roster could not retrospectively alter the rights of candidates who applied in good faith under the existing advertisement. The recruitment process, once initiated, could not be modified midway through changes in policy or roster.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court noted that as per advertisement dated 11-12-2020, there was only one post of DSP available under the &#8216;SC Sports&#8217; category, and it was reserved for women in line with the 2020 Rules mandating 33% horizontal reservation for women. Accordingly, the private respondent, being male, could not claim entitlement to that post. Moreover, the private respondent participated in the selection process without raising any objections, and it was only after the merit list was released that a representation was made. Since he was not required to apply afresh, he could not later claim ignorance of the terms of the advertisement, especially at such a belated stage.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court noted that the appellant had applied under the &#8220;SC Sports (Women)&#8221; category, which was specifically created under the 2020 Rules to fulfill the requirement of 33% horizontal reservation for women. In contrast, the private respondent had applied under the &#8220;SC Sports (80)&#8221; category, which referred to the general SC Sports category without gender-based reservation. Consequently, both the appellant and the private respondent were selected against their respective categories. The private respondent was appointed as Deputy Superintendent (Jails) on 26-04-2022, while the appellant, being the only qualified candidate under the &#8220;SC Sports (Women)&#8221; category, was likely to be appointed as DSP.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court also acknowledged the conflicting positions taken by the Department of Home and the Department of Social Justice, Empowerment &amp; Minorities, which had led the Division Bench to seek clarification from the Chief Secretary. However, the Single Judge had resolved the matter by accepting the Home Department&#8217;s position that the DSP post was rightly reserved for the &#8220;SC Sports (Women)&#8221; category. The Court agreed with the Single Judge&#8217;s reasoning, emphasizing that once the eligibility criteria were clearly laid down in Advertisement dated 11-12-2020, they could not be altered midway through the recruitment process. Doing so would amount to &#8220;changing the rules of the game after the game has been played,&#8221; a principle firmly established by the Supreme Court in <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">K. Manjusree<\/span> v. <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">State of A.P.<\/span>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/6OVBvlGp\" target=\"_blank\">(2008) 3 SCC 512<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court concluded that once it is accepted that the DSP post in question was reserved for the &#8216;SC Sports (Women)&#8217; category in terms of advertisement, the appellant must be recognized as the only eligible candidate for appointment, being the sole SC woman who successfully qualified for the post of DSP.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court emphasized that the crucial date for determining eligibility and reservation was 11-12-2020, that is the date of the advertisement. Since neither the advertisement nor the 2020 Rules were ever challenged, the respondents could not rely on subsequent developments, such as the issuance of the roster system on 29-01-2021, to contest the validity of the reservation.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court held that no changes could be made to the recruitment process after the issuance of the advertisement, and it was unnecessary to examine the legality of the roster itself for the purpose of deciding the case.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">Accordingly, the Court allowed the appeal, set aside the impugned order of the Division Bench, and upheld the judgment of the Single Judge dated 03-03-2023. The Court directed that the directions issued in the judgment dated 03-03-2023 shall be complied with within a period of three weeks from the date of the present judgment.<\/p>\n<p><!--\n\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">[<span style=\"font-weight: bold; color: #632423;\">Prabhjot Kaur v. State of Punjab, C.A. No.-005132-005132 - 2025, decided on 09-04-2025<\/span>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-indent: 18pt;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000080;\">*Judgment Authored by: Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<hr\/>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Advocates who appeared in this case:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p style=\"margin-left: 18pt;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">For Petitioner(s):<\/span> Mr. P. S. Patwalia, Sr. Adv. Mr. Anurag Kulharia, Adv. Mr. Sumit Kumar Sharma, Adv. Dr. Navya Jannu, Adv. Ms. Aakriti Jain, AOR Mr. Rajat Sangwan, Adv. Mr. Shikhar Narwal, Adv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p style=\"margin-left: 18pt;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">For Respondent(s):<\/span> Mr. Rajat Bhardwaj, A.A.G. Mr. Karan Sharma, AOR Mr. Gurminder Singh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Raj Kishor Choudhary, AOR Mr. Shakeel Ahmed, Adv. Mr. Lalit Singla, Adv. Ms.Pratibha Singh, Adv. Mr. Himanshu Gupta, Adv.<\/p>\n\n--><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-overflow: ellipsis; background-color: #92A8D1; text-align:justify; clear:both; text-size-adjust: auto; overflow: auto;\">\n<p style=\"font-size: 18pt; margin-top: 5px; text-align: center;\">CASE DETAILS<\/p>\n<table width=\"100%\" style=\"word-wrap: break-word; border-collapse:collapse; table-layout: fixed; margin-top: 10px;\">\n<colgroup>\n<col width=\"41%\"\/>\n<col width=\"59%\"\/>\n<\/colgroup>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span style=\"color: #D4E4F7; font-weight: bold;\">Citation:<\/span><br \/> <span style=\"color: #D4E4F7; font-size: 10pt;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/Kg4M7FeR\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2025 SCC OnLine SC 761<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #D4E4F7; font-weight: bold;\">Appellants&#160;:<\/span><br \/> Prabhjot Kaur<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #D4E4F7; font-weight: bold;\">Respondents&#160;:<\/span><br \/> State of Punjab<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p style=\"color: #D4E4F7; font-weight: bold;\">Advocates who appeared in this case<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #D4E4F7; font-weight: bold;\">For Petitioner(s):<\/span><br \/> Mr. P. S. Patwalia, Sr. Adv. Mr. Anurag Kulharia, Adv. Mr. Sumit Kumar Sharma, Adv. Dr. Navya Jannu, Adv. Ms. Aakriti Jain, AOR Mr. Rajat Sangwan, Adv. Mr. Shikhar Narwal, Adv.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #D4E4F7; font-weight: bold;\">For Respondent(s):<\/span><br \/> Mr. Rajat Bhardwaj, A.A.G. Mr. Karan Sharma, AOR Mr. Gurminder Singh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Raj Kishor Choudhary, AOR Mr. Shakeel Ahmed, Adv. Mr. Lalit Singla, Adv. Ms.Pratibha Singh, Adv. Mr. Himanshu Gupta, Adv.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p style=\"font-size: 12pt; margin-top: -20px; margin-left: 5px;\"><span style=\"color: #D4E4F7; font-weight: bold;\">CORAM&#160;:<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"banner\" style=\"overflow: hidden; display: flex; justify-content: space-between; padding-left: 3%;\">\n<div class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%; font-size: 9pt; text-align: center;\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2024\/08\/10\/know-thy-judge-the-remarkable-odyssey-of-justice-sudhanshu-dhulia-from-bar-to-bench-scc-times\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" height=\"100px\" width=\"100px\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scobserver.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Dhulia-.png\" alt=\"Sudhanshu Dhulia, J.\" style=\"border-radius: 50%; border:2px solid #FF5733; padding: 1px;\"><br \/><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Sudhanshu Dhulia, J.<\/span><\/img><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%; font-size: 9pt; text-align: center;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" height=\"100px\" width=\"100px\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scobserver.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/JUDGES-PROFILES-TEMPLATE-1-modified.jpg\" alt=\"K. Vinod Chandran, J.\" style=\"border-radius: 50%;\"><br \/><span style=\"color: black !important;\">K. Vinod Chandran, J.<\/span><\/img><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-style: italic;\">&#8220;Once it is accepted that the DSP post in question was reserved for &#8216;SC Sports (Women)&#8217; as per advertisement, the appellant must be accepted as the only person qualified in her category who could be appointed. This is because she is the only SC woman candidate who successfully cleared all the tests for the post of DSP.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67512,"featured_media":345857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9],"tags":[80981,80985,80986,80983,80979,80980,2670,80984,54876,80982,80978,5363,80977],"class_list":["post-345847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casebriefs","category-supremecourt","tag-33-women-reservation-punjab","tag-changing-rules-in-recruitment-process","tag-dsp-post-for-sc-sports-women","tag-dsp-recruitment-legal-case","tag-eligibility-criteria-recruitment","tag-fresh-advertisement-recruitment-rules","tag-Punjab_and_Haryana_High_Court","tag-punjab-civil-services-examination","tag-punjab-public-service-commission","tag-sc-category-horizontal-reservation","tag-sc-sports-women-reservation","tag-supreme-court","tag-supreme-court-judgment-dsp-post"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.4 (Yoast SEO v26.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>SC upholds DSP post reservation for SC Sports (Women) | Eligibility rules can&#039;t be changed midway | SCC Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Supreme Court held that eligibility criteria laid out in a fresh advertisement cannot be altered midway through recruitment process. It upheld the reservation of the DSP post for SC Sports (Women) under Punjab&#039;s 2020 Rules and set aside High Court&#039;s Division Bench order.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Eligibility criteria declared by fresh advertisement cannot be changed midway through recruitment process\u2019; Supreme Court upholds reservation of DSP post for SC Sports (Women)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Supreme Court held that eligibility criteria laid out in a fresh advertisement cannot be altered midway through recruitment process. It upheld the reservation of the DSP post for SC Sports (Women) under Punjab&#039;s 2020 Rules and set aside High Court&#039;s Division Bench order.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SCC Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/scc.online\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-15T12:30:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-16T11:58:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DSP-post-for-SC-Sports-Women.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"533\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Apoorva\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"\u2018Eligibility criteria declared by fresh advertisement cannot be changed midway through recruitment process\u2019; Supreme Court upholds reservation of DSP post for SC Sports (Women)\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Apoorva\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/\",\"name\":\"SC upholds DSP post reservation for SC Sports (Women) | Eligibility rules can't be changed midway | SCC Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DSP-post-for-SC-Sports-Women.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-15T12:30:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-16T11:58:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/288d814d0864b57168e08daa1940a1c9\"},\"description\":\"Supreme Court held that eligibility criteria laid out in a fresh advertisement cannot be altered midway through recruitment process. It upheld the reservation of the DSP post for SC Sports (Women) under Punjab's 2020 Rules and set aside High Court's Division Bench order.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DSP-post-for-SC-Sports-Women.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DSP-post-for-SC-Sports-Women.webp\",\"width\":800,\"height\":533,\"caption\":\"DSP post for SC Sports Women\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018Eligibility criteria declared by fresh advertisement cannot be changed midway through recruitment process\u2019; Supreme Court upholds reservation of DSP post for SC Sports (Women)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"SCC Times\",\"description\":\"Bringing you the Best Analytical Legal News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/288d814d0864b57168e08daa1940a1c9\",\"name\":\"Apoorva\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/549edb3ed2c7046a0c504583cf71db32c50251c1260a6331b2cc2973e80b0e91?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/549edb3ed2c7046a0c504583cf71db32c50251c1260a6331b2cc2973e80b0e91?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Apoorva\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/author\/scc-editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"SC upholds DSP post reservation for SC Sports (Women) | Eligibility rules can't be changed midway | SCC Times","description":"Supreme Court held that eligibility criteria laid out in a fresh advertisement cannot be altered midway through recruitment process. It upheld the reservation of the DSP post for SC Sports (Women) under Punjab's 2020 Rules and set aside High Court's Division Bench order.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018Eligibility criteria declared by fresh advertisement cannot be changed midway through recruitment process\u2019; Supreme Court upholds reservation of DSP post for SC Sports (Women)","og_description":"Supreme Court held that eligibility criteria laid out in a fresh advertisement cannot be altered midway through recruitment process. It upheld the reservation of the DSP post for SC Sports (Women) under Punjab's 2020 Rules and set aside High Court's Division Bench order.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/","og_site_name":"SCC Times","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/scc.online\/","article_published_time":"2025-04-15T12:30:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-16T11:58:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":533,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DSP-post-for-SC-Sports-Women.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Apoorva","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"\u2018Eligibility criteria declared by fresh advertisement cannot be changed midway through recruitment process\u2019; Supreme Court upholds reservation of DSP post for SC Sports (Women)","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Apoorva","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/","name":"SC upholds DSP post reservation for SC Sports (Women) | Eligibility rules can't be changed midway | SCC Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DSP-post-for-SC-Sports-Women.webp","datePublished":"2025-04-15T12:30:30+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-16T11:58:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/288d814d0864b57168e08daa1940a1c9"},"description":"Supreme Court held that eligibility criteria laid out in a fresh advertisement cannot be altered midway through recruitment process. It upheld the reservation of the DSP post for SC Sports (Women) under Punjab's 2020 Rules and set aside High Court's Division Bench order.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DSP-post-for-SC-Sports-Women.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DSP-post-for-SC-Sports-Women.webp","width":800,"height":533,"caption":"DSP post for SC Sports Women"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/15\/sc-dsp-reservation-sc-sports-women-eligibility-criteria\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018Eligibility criteria declared by fresh advertisement cannot be changed midway through recruitment process\u2019; Supreme Court upholds reservation of DSP post for SC Sports (Women)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/","name":"SCC Times","description":"Bringing you the Best Analytical Legal News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/288d814d0864b57168e08daa1940a1c9","name":"Apoorva","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/549edb3ed2c7046a0c504583cf71db32c50251c1260a6331b2cc2973e80b0e91?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/549edb3ed2c7046a0c504583cf71db32c50251c1260a6331b2cc2973e80b0e91?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Apoorva"},"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/author\/scc-editor\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DSP-post-for-SC-Sports-Women.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":282911,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/02\/02\/punjab-and-haryana-high-court-non-domicile-candidates-not-entitled-to-33-percent-reservation-for-women-under-punjab-civil-services-rules-2020-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/","url_meta":{"origin":345847,"position":0},"title":"Punjab and Haryana High Court | Non-Domicile Candidates not entitled to 33% reservation for women under Punjab Civil Services Rules, 2020","author":"Editor","date":"February 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Court acknowledged the Punjab Government's intention to grant 33% reservation to the women of the \u2018State of Punjab\u2019 in direct recruitment of Group-A, B, C and D posts.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/MicrosoftTeams-image42.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":345586,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/04\/11\/supreme-court-notice-challenge-punjab-haryana-high-court-decision-ews-reservation-ppsc\/","url_meta":{"origin":345847,"position":1},"title":"Supreme Court issues notice in challenge to Punjab &amp; Haryana High Court\u2019s decision on EWS reservation in PPSC Agriculture Development Officer recruitment","author":"Apoorva","date":"April 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Punjab & Haryana HC in the impugned judgment clarified that EWS candidates who are selected based on merit and not on account of reservation, are not to be counted towards the quota meant for reservation.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"EWS reservation challenge","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/EWS-reservation-challenge.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/EWS-reservation-challenge.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/EWS-reservation-challenge.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/EWS-reservation-challenge.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":260627,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2022\/01\/26\/ph-hc-directs-state-to-provide-sports-quota-of-3-in-government-medical-dental-colleges-instead-of-1-provided-in-policy-decision-such-mandamus-impermissible-holds-sc\/","url_meta":{"origin":345847,"position":2},"title":"P&#038;H HC directs State to provide sports quota of 3% in Government Medical\/Dental Colleges instead of 1% provided in policy decision. Such mandamus impermissible, holds SC","author":"Prachi Bhardwaj","date":"January 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Supreme Court: Explaining the scope of writ jurisdiction, the bench of MR Shah* and BV Nagarathna, JJ has held that the State Government\u2019s action taking a policy decision to prescribe a particular percentage of reservation\/quota for a particular category of persons, cannot be interfered with by issuance of a writ\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/HC-directs-State-to-provide-sports-quota-of-3-in-Government-MedicalDental-Colleges-instead-of-1-provided-in-policy-decision.-Such-mandamus-impermissible-holds-SC.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/HC-directs-State-to-provide-sports-quota-of-3-in-Government-MedicalDental-Colleges-instead-of-1-provided-in-policy-decision.-Such-mandamus-impermissible-holds-SC.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/HC-directs-State-to-provide-sports-quota-of-3-in-Government-MedicalDental-Colleges-instead-of-1-provided-in-policy-decision.-Such-mandamus-impermissible-holds-SC.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/HC-directs-State-to-provide-sports-quota-of-3-in-Government-MedicalDental-Colleges-instead-of-1-provided-in-policy-decision.-Such-mandamus-impermissible-holds-SC.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/HC-directs-State-to-provide-sports-quota-of-3-in-Government-MedicalDental-Colleges-instead-of-1-provided-in-policy-decision.-Such-mandamus-impermissible-holds-SC.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":294565,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/06\/14\/punjab-haryana-high-court-refuses-sc-benefit-muslim-assistant-professor\/","url_meta":{"origin":345847,"position":3},"title":"Person of Muslim Community not entitled to SC Certificate: Punjab and Haryana High Court while upholding Assistant Professor&#8217;s removal from service","author":"Editor","date":"June 14, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Court said that the petitioner could not be given the benefit of Horizontal reservation as he was not able to prove that he had obtained more marks than the last selected candidate of the General category.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"punjab and haryana high court","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/punjab-and-haryana-high-court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/punjab-and-haryana-high-court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/punjab-and-haryana-high-court.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/punjab-and-haryana-high-court.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":263624,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2022\/03\/14\/interchangeability-of-unfilled-posts-of-sc-st-category-can-be-done-only-by-the-department-concerned-not-by-appointing-authority-sc\/","url_meta":{"origin":345847,"position":4},"title":"Interchangeability of unfilled posts of SC\/ST category can be done only by the department concerned, not by appointing authority : SC","author":"Prachi Bhardwaj","date":"March 14, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Supreme Court: The bench of Indidra Banerjee and JK Maheshwari*, JJ the interchangeability of the vacant unfilled posts of SC category may be possible due to not having eligible candidates by the department concerned but not by appointing authority. Factual Background The Court was deciding the case where the appellants\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Interchangeability-of-unfilled-posts-of-SCST-category-can-be-done-only-by-the-department-concerned-not-by-appointing-authority.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Interchangeability-of-unfilled-posts-of-SCST-category-can-be-done-only-by-the-department-concerned-not-by-appointing-authority.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Interchangeability-of-unfilled-posts-of-SCST-category-can-be-done-only-by-the-department-concerned-not-by-appointing-authority.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Interchangeability-of-unfilled-posts-of-SCST-category-can-be-done-only-by-the-department-concerned-not-by-appointing-authority.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Interchangeability-of-unfilled-posts-of-SCST-category-can-be-done-only-by-the-department-concerned-not-by-appointing-authority.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":292900,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/05\/23\/supreme-court-delivers-split-verdict-on-obc-and-ews-candidates-for-recruitment-of-civil-judge-legal-news\/","url_meta":{"origin":345847,"position":5},"title":"Rajasthan Civil Judge Recruitment| SC delivers Split verdict on considering candidature of OBC-EWS candidates despite belated submission of category certificates","author":"Editor","date":"May 23, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Justice Ajay Rastogi and Bela M. Trivedi delivered their split verdicts while examining the challenge raised against the Judgment of Rajasthan High Court, dismissing the appeals of the qualified candidates of OBC, EWS category.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"rajasthan civil judge recruitment","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/rajasthan-civil-judge-recruitment.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/rajasthan-civil-judge-recruitment.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/rajasthan-civil-judge-recruitment.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/rajasthan-civil-judge-recruitment.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67512"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}