SC, ST Reservation In Promotion: Supreme Court Refuses To Lay Down Yardstick For Determining Adequacy Of Representation

The Supreme Court Friday refused to lay down a yardstick for determining the adequacy of representation in granting promotions to Schedule Caste (SC) and Schedule Tribe (ST) employees in government jobs.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice Nageswara Rao and comprising of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai said states are obligated to collect data on inadequacy of representation of SCs/STs.

The apex court said it cannot lay down any yardstick to determine the inadequacy of representation of SCs/STs and left it for the states to do so.

"We have held we cannot lay down any yardstick to determine inadequacy of representation. State is obligated to collect quantifiable data regarding SC/ST representation. We have left it to state to assess yardstick to determine inadequacy of representation of SC/ST," the Court held, reports Bar and Bench.

The Court also clarified that 'cadre' should be considered as unit for collection for quantifiable data and not the entire service.

Collection of quantifiable data is mandatory apart from assessment of inadequacy of representation after a periodic review is done, the Court added.

The Centre had earlier told the bench that it is a fact of life that even after around 75 years of independence those belonging to SCs and STs have not been brought to the same level of merit as the forward classes.

The apex court had reserved its verdict on 26 October 2021.

(With inputs from PTI)