PATNA, Nov. 3 -- A married woman cannot be denied caste-based reservation merely because her caste certificate mentions her husband's name instead of her father's, the Patna high court has ruled, dismissing a Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) appeal against the candidature of an SC woman.

A division bench of Justices Mohit Kumar Shah and Sourendra Pandey, in an order dated October 30, upheld a single judge's February 14, 2023, direction to the BPSC to consider Dr Sushma Sharan for appointment as assistant professor of obstetrics and gynaecology under the scheduled caste (SC) category.

The bench said the commission could not reject her reserved-category candidature on "non-existent technicalities/reasons", particularly when her SC s...