Verdict: Supreme Court said – Reservation in promotion is not a fundamental right, State Governments are not bound to it
New Delhi: Supreme Court has said that seeking quota or reservation for promotion in government jobs is not a fundamental right. On Friday, a bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and Justice Hemant Gupta said that state governments cannot be compelled to make such provisions without revealing the figure of some communities not being adequately represented in government service. It is up to the discretion of the state government whether to give them reservation in promotion or not. The court gave this ruling on the appeal of the Uttarakhand government.
On Friday, the court said that Articles 16 (4) and 16 (4-A) give the power to implement reservation, but this can only happen if the state government believes that some communities are not adequately represented in government services . The bench said, “There is no doubt that the state government is not committed to giving reservation. But any person claiming this is not a part of the fundamental rights, nor can the court issue any order to the state government in this regard. “
This decision of the Supreme Court nullified the decision of the Uttarakhand High Court in 2012, in which the state government was ordered to provide quota to special communities. Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal, Colin Gonzalvis and Dushyant Dave at the time argued that it is the duty of the State Government to make special provisions under Article 16 (4) and 16 (4-A) for SC / STs.
The High Court had asked to bring quantitative data
Uttarakhand High Court had directed the state government to collect quantitative data to give reservation in promotion. Through this, it was to be ascertained whether there is sufficient representation of SC-ST class in government jobs so that reservation can be given in promotion. This decision was challenged by the state government in the Supreme Court. In the year 2018, a five-judge constitution bench had said that the ‘creamy layer’ cannot be given the benefit of reservation in government jobs. In December last year, the central government requested a seven-judge bench to review it.
