There are two groups of officers between whom the fight for reservation is ongoing. One group says that the Constitution gives states the right to give reservation in promotion.”
Parliament added Clause (4a) to Article 16 of the Constitution in 1995, allowing states to provide reservations in promotions for SC/ STs.
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“A subsequent issue that came up from this was that officers from the SC/ ST category who were initially selected for the CSS on merit would be promoted under this provision of reservation. This would lead to a great imbalance in reservation representation percentages,” added the official.
“The other group of officers, who are against this reservation, claim that even the unreserved seats are now being given to SC/ ST officers. We call this ‘queue jumping’, since the seats were not originally meant for them.”
A writ petition on the matter was filed in the Supreme Court in 2002, and the judgment was pronounced in 2006. In this case,
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M Nagaraj Vs. Union of India, the court had held that a state is “not bound to make a reservation for SC/ ST in matters of promotions”.
However, if a state does wish to exercise its discretion and make any such provision, the judgment says it has to “collect quantifiable data showing backwardness of the class and inadequacy of representation in public employment”.
Since the judgment in Nagaraj, many states have found it difficult to satisfy the conditions laid down. Various high courts have struck down policies providing reservations in promotions. These cases then came to the Supreme Court on appeal.
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In another case, the Supreme Court called for data on officers in government services to determine reservations. The lack of such data has led to the case being extended over several years.
On 28 January 2022, the apex court stated that since the data of such a large body of officers was difficult to collect, their cadre strength — in relation to the grade or category of posts for which promotion is sought — would be the basis for collecting data.
The court had fixed 24 February to take up individual matters that would now be decided on the basis of the judgment pronounced in January. However, it has not been decided when these individual cases will be heard, leading to the protest by CSS officers.
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