Reservation in Promotion

January 31, 2022

Recently, the Supreme Court of India refused to lay down any yardstick to grant reservation in promotion in government jobs to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).

Key Facts

A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Nageswara Rao, was hearing the case.
As per bench, states are obligated for collecting data on inadequacy of representation of SCs and STs.
Court also maintained that, collection of information on inadequacy of representation of SCs or STs cannot be with reference to entire class or service. But it should be relatable to category or grade of posts to which promotion is sought.

Court’s view of Cadre

As per court, Cadre would be meaningless if data related to representation of SCs or STs is with reference to entire service. Cadre should be the unit for collecting quantifiable data in relation to promotional posts.

Court’s view on proportional representation

As of now, court has not gone into the issue of proportionate representation and test of adequacy. Court has left this issue to the states for assessing inadequacy of representation of SCs or STs in promotion of post by considering relevant factors. Supreme court had reserved its verdict on October 26, 2021.

Centre’s take

Central government had asked the apex court to lay down grounds for India and states to implement reservation in promotions for SCs and STs in government jobs. Attorney General K K Venugopal submitted that SCs or STs have been side-lined from the mainstream for years. Thus, reservation to them will act as equaliser, giving them an equal chance. He referred to SC’s judgements right from Indra Sawhney verdict of 1992 or Mandal Commission case.

Mandal Commission

The Mandal Commission, also known as ‘Socially & Educationally Backward Classes Commission (SEBC)’ was set in 1979. It was chaired by an MP, B P Mandal. It was set up for identifying socially or educationally backward classes of India as well as to consider reservations for addressing caste inequality and discrimination. Commission developed 11 criteria for identifying backward classes who were called “Other Backward Classes (OBCs)”. The criteria are classified as educational, social and economic.

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