Lay down definite decisive ground to implement reservation in promotions to SCsSTsCentre to SC
New Delhi Oct 26 PTI The Centre Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to lay down a definite and decisive ground for the Union of India and the states to implement reservation in promotions to the Scheduled Castes SCs and Scheduled Tribes STs in government jobsAttorney General K K Venugopal appearing for the Centre told a bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao that SCSTs have been sidelined from the mainstream for years and we have to bring an equaliser in form of reservation in the interest of the country to give them an equal chanceIf you dont lay down a definite decisive ground that the states and union will follow therell be a multitude of litigations There will never be an end to this issue as to what is the principle on which reservation has to be madeWe cant fill the seats unless merit is the criteria but there is a class that has been sidelined from the mainstream for centuries In which case in the interest of the country and in the interest of the constitution we have to bring an equaliser and that in my view is proportional representation That gives the right to equality Venugopal told the bench also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai which reserved its verdict on the issueHe said we need a principle on which reservations are to be madeIf it is left on theState how will I know when adequacy is satisfied What is inadequate That is the great problem he saidThe AG said there is no dispute that so far as SCSTs are concerned due to hundreds of years of suppression they have to be given by affirmative action an equal chance to get over the absence of meritThis has resulted in exemptions being given regarding qualifications exceptions to marks regarding selections and similarly so that they can get seats in education and because of the nature of the jobs theyve been performing for hundreds of years like manual scavenging etc They were considered untouchables and they could not compete with the rest of the population Therefore the reservation he saidThe apex court was hearing arguments on the issue relating to reservation in promotions to the employees belonging to SCs and STsThe top law officer said the issue of adequacy of representation arose in 1950 itselfWhat has been done in the last seven decades by the union of India and the states in education and jobs Your lordships have to see if those things have worked If that is not satisfactory then it is the duty of the court to suggest an alternative method and direct a method by which a standard or yardstick is laid down which is certain and definitiveThese opportunities for these unfortunate people are an equaliser But equalisers dont work overnight This may take decades and decades So far as SCsSTs are concerned they are still suffering to get into the mainstream of life the AG saidCiting statistics collected from nine states Venugopal said all of them have followed one principle to equalise them so that absence of merit does not deprive them of getting into the mainstreamHe said the total percentage of backward classes in the country is 52 per centIf you take proportion then 745 per cent of reservations would have to be given but we set the cut off to 50 per cent he saidVenugopal submitted that if the top court leaves the decision on the reservation to the states by taking quantifiable data and adequacy of representation then would be going back to square oneThe AG had earlier submitted that 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 apex court should give some concrete basis for SCs STs and Other Backward Classes OBCs to fill up vacanciesThe bench had earlier said it would not reopen its decision on the issue of the grant of reservation in promotion to the Scheduled Castes SCs and Scheduled Tribes STs and said it was for the states to decide how they are going to implement the sameVenugopal had referred to the apex court judgements right from the Indra Sawhney verdict of 1992 popularly known as the Mandal Commission case to the Jarnail Singh verdict of 2018The Mandal judgement had ruled out quota in promotionsThe law officer had said that till 1975 35 per cent SCs and 062 per cent of STs were in government employment and this is the average figureNow in 2008 the figure of SCs and STs in government employment has come to 175 and 68 per cent respectively which are still low and justify such quota he had saidThe top court had on September 14 said that it would not reopen its decision on granting reservation in promotions to the SCs and STs as it was for the states to decide how they implement itEarlier Maharashtra and other states had said the promotions have been made in unreserved categories but promotions have not been granted in reserved categories for SC and ST employeesIn 2018 a five-judge Constitution bench had refused to refer to the 2006 judgement in the M Nagraj case in which the creamy layer concept was extended to the SCs and STs to a larger seven-judge bench for reconsiderationIt had also paved the way for a grant of quota for promotions in the government jobs to SCs and STs and had modified the 2006 judgement to the extent that the states will not be required to collect quantifiable data reflecting the backwardness among these communities to justify the quota in promotions PTI PKS RKS RKS
New Delhi Oct 26 PTI The Centre Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to lay down a definite and decisive ground for the Union of India and the states to implement reservation in promotions to the Scheduled Castes SCs and Scheduled Tribes STs in government jobsAttorney General K K Venugopal appearing for the Centre told a bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao that SCSTs have been sidelined from the mainstream for years and we have to bring an equaliser in form of reservation in the interest of the country to give them an equal chanceIf you dont lay down a definite decisive ground that the states and union will follow therell be a multitude of litigations There will never be an end to this issue as to what is the principle on which reservation has to be madeWe cant fill the seats unless merit is the criteria but there is a class that has been sidelined from the mainstream for centuries In which case in the interest of the country and in the interest of the constitution we have to bring an equaliser and that in my view is proportional representation That gives the right to equality Venugopal told the bench also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai which reserved its verdict on the issueHe said we need a principle on which reservations are to be madeIf it is left on theState how will I know when adequacy is satisfied What is inadequate That is the great problem he saidThe AG said there is no dispute that so far as SCSTs are concerned due to hundreds of years of suppression they have to be given by affirmative action an equal chance to get over the absence of meritThis has resulted in exemptions being given regarding qualifications exceptions to marks regarding selections and similarly so that they can get seats in education and because of the nature of the jobs theyve been performing for hundreds of years like manual scavenging etc They were considered untouchables and they could not compete with the rest of the population Therefore the reservation he saidThe apex court was hearing arguments on the issue relating to reservation in promotions to the employees belonging to SCs and STsThe top law officer said the issue of adequacy of representation arose in 1950 itselfWhat has been done in the last seven decades by the union of India and the states in education and jobs Your lordships have to see if those things have worked If that is not satisfactory then it is the duty of the court to suggest an alternative method and direct a method by which a standard or yardstick is laid down which is certain and definitiveThese opportunities for these unfortunate people are an equaliser But equalisers dont work overnight This may take decades and decades So far as SCsSTs are concerned they are still suffering to get into the mainstream of life the AG saidCiting statistics collected from nine states Venugopal said all of them have followed one principle to equalise them so that absence of merit does not deprive them of getting into the mainstreamHe said the total percentage of backward classes in the country is 52 per centIf you take proportion then 745 per cent of reservations would have to be given but we set the cut off to 50 per cent he saidVenugopal submitted that if the top court leaves the decision on the reservation to the states by taking quantifiable data and adequacy of representation then would be going back to square oneThe AG had earlier submitted that 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 apex court should give some concrete basis for SCs STs and Other Backward Classes OBCs to fill up vacanciesThe bench had earlier said it would not reopen its decision on the issue of the grant of reservation in promotion to the Scheduled Castes SCs and Scheduled Tribes STs and said it was for the states to decide how they are going to implement the sameVenugopal had referred to the apex court judgements right from the Indra Sawhney verdict of 1992 popularly known as the Mandal Commission case to the Jarnail Singh verdict of 2018The Mandal judgement had ruled out quota in promotionsThe law officer had said that till 1975 35 per cent SCs and 062 per cent of STs were in government employment and this is the average figureNow in 2008 the figure of SCs and STs in government employment has come to 175 and 68 per cent respectively which are still low and justify such quota he had saidThe top court had on September 14 said that it would not reopen its decision on granting reservation in promotions to the SCs and STs as it was for the states to decide how they implement itEarlier Maharashtra and other states had said the promotions have been made in unreserved categories but promotions have not been granted in reserved categories for SC and ST employeesIn 2018 a five-judge Constitution bench had refused to refer to the 2006 judgement in the M Nagraj case in which the creamy layer concept was extended to the SCs and STs to a larger seven-judge bench for reconsiderationIt had also paved the way for a grant of quota for promotions in the government jobs to SCs and STs and had modified the 2006 judgement to the extent that the states will not be required to collect quantifiable data reflecting the backwardness among these communities to justify the quota in promotions PTI PKS RKS RKS
