Delhi High Court: EWS candidates cannot claim SC/ST/OBC-style age relaxation or extra attempts

The Delhi High Court has ruled that aspirants in the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category cannot claim parity with Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or Other Backward Classes candidates on relaxations in the upper age limit or in the number of permissible examination attempts for Central government appointments.

The Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Amit Mahajan held that the disabilities faced by socially backward groups and economically deprived groups are constitutionally distinct. EWS reservation, introduced by the 103rd Constitutional Amendment in 2019, addresses economic disadvantage among the unreserved categories. SC/ST/OBC reservations, by contrast, are rooted in Articles 15(4) and 16(4) and address centuries of social and educational backwardness. The court observed that the EWS category cannot demand automatic parity with SC/ST/OBC in 'ancillary considerations' such as age relaxation or enhanced number of attempts.

The ruling has direct consequences for civil services aspirants. Under the existing UPSC Civil Services Examination rules, SC/ST candidates get a 5-year age relaxation and unlimited attempts within the upper age limit; OBC candidates get 3 years and 9 attempts; EWS candidates have the same age limit and the same six-attempt cap as the General category. Similar differential rules apply across SSC, banking and railway recruitments. The High Court's view is that the equality clause does not require the State to extend every social-justice concession to a category designed only for economic upliftment.

The judgment is consistent with the Supreme Court's 2022 majority opinion in Janhit Abhiyan v. Union of India, which upheld the 103rd Amendment but treated EWS as a distinct economic class. The Delhi High Court's order extends that reasoning into the practical area of examination eligibility. EWS aspirants who hoped that ongoing litigation would unlock the wider relaxations available to SC/ST/OBC must now plan their attempts and age strategy on the existing General-category timetable.

Exam angle: Examiners love a 'distinguish between' question on EWS versus SC/ST/OBC reservation. Remember the constitutional sources — 103rd Amendment of 2019 inserting Articles 15(6) and 16(6) for EWS, against Articles 15(4) and 16(4) for socially backward classes — and now add this Delhi High Court ruling that age relaxation and extra attempts are 'ancillary considerations' tied to social, not economic, backwardness.