The standards of reservation in promotion to SC-ST will not change, SC said – Center collect data by reviewing first

The Supreme Court refused to interfere with the norms of reservation in promotion to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. SC said, the parameters of reservation that the Supreme Court has set in its earlier decisions. We cannot tamper with them. However, the court said, from time to time, the government should review whether Dalits have got proper representation during the reservation in promotion or not.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice Nageswara Rao said, the provisions and parameters of reservation fixed in earlier decisions will not be diluted. However, the court said, the Center and the states will definitely review the appropriate representation in their respective services in the proportion of reservation for SC/ST within the stipulated time period. Before reservation in promotion, it is necessary to collect data of representation in higher posts.

The decision was reserved in October 2021

In October 2021, the Supreme Court had reserved its decision on the petitions filed regarding reservation in promotion to the officers-employees of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in government jobs.

Earlier, during the hearing, the Center had said in the Supreme Court that it is a fact of life that even after 75 years of independence, the people of SC-ST were not brought to the same level of qualification as the forward castes.

During the hearing, Attorney General KK Venugopal had said that it is more difficult for people belonging to SC and ST to get higher posts in Group A category jobs. But now the time has come when the top court should give some concrete basis for SC, ST and Other Backward Classes (OBC) to fill the vacancies.

The top court had said that it will not reopen its decision to grant reservation in promotion to SCs and STs as it is for the states to decide how they implement it.