Supreme Court of India. (PTI File Photo)
New Delhi, February 24 (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Centre to file an affidavit on the contemporaneous data that is available to the government along with "application of mind" on data for providing reservation in promotion to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in government jobs.
A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai also said it would hear on March 30 the matters arising from the judgments of High Courts of Delhi and Punjab & Haryana, the list of which shall be supplied by Additional Solicitor General Balbir Singh.
In the meanwhile, the Union of India is directed to file an affidavit, giving particulars about the contemporaneous cadre wise data, after serving a copy on the other side. Details of consideration of the data to determine inadequacy of representation of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) for providing reservations in promotions, the bench said.
The top court on January 28 had refused to "lay down any yardstick" for granting reservation in promotion to SCs and STs in government jobs saying determination of their inadequate representation is the discretion of the State.
It said it is neither legal nor proper for the Courts to issue directions or advisory sermons to the executive in respect of the sphere which is exclusively within their domain under the Constitution.
"Determination of inadequate representation of SCs and STs in services under a State is left to the discretion of the State, as the determination depends upon myriad factors which this Court cannot envisage...
"Laying down of criteria for determining the inadequacy of representation would result in curtailing the discretion given to the State Governments. In addition, the prevailing local conditions, which may require to be factored in, might not be uniform," the apex court had said.
In 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 reconsideration.
It 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.
Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from news agency feeds and has not been edited by The Morung Express.
Source: PTI
