The Supreme Court says state governments ought to collect quantifiable data before granting reservation in promotion to SC/ST employees; further added that it cannot lay down new yardstick after Constitution bench decisions.
A three-judge Bench of Justices Nageswara Rao, Sanjiv Khanna, and BR Gavai made these remarks while delivering its judgment on the issue of the grant of reservation in promotion to the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in government jobs. The Supreme Court also left to the State to assess the inadequacy of representation of SCs / STs in promotional posts by taking into account relevant factors.
The apex court had earlier said it would not reopen its decision on the issue of the grant of reservation in promotion to the SCs and STs and said it was for the states to decide how they are going to implement the same.
Attorney General KK Venugopal for Centre had earlier said that it is a fact of life that even after around 75 years those belonging to SCs and STs have not been brought to the same level of merit as the forward classes.
It is more difficult for those belonging to the SCs and STs to get a higher post in group A category of jobs and the time has come when the top court should give some concrete basis for SCs, STs, and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) to fill up vacancies, AG had said.
A total number of 133 petitions arising from various states were pending before the apex court on the issue.
The AG had contended that recently, the Centre was constrained to make nearly 1400 promotions on an ad-hoc basis based on seniority without taking into consideration the principle of reservations, to ensure that the functioning of the departments is not affected.