Madhya Pradesh HC sets aside SC/ST quota in promotion in govt service

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Saturday set aside the provision of reservations in promotion in the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Rules, 2002. The court said all the promotions granted according to 2002 rules would be invalid.

The ruling of the division bench of Chief Justice Ajay Khanwilkar and Justice Sanjay Yadav came on public interest litigation filed by R B Rai, Santosh Kumar, S C Pandey and others. The petitioners had challenged 2002 rules on the ground that they were not in conformity with the norms given by the Supreme Court in the M Nagraj Vs Union (2006).

“The existing provision relating to reservation, backlog vacancies, carry forward of backlog vacancies... Contained in the Rules of 2002 runs contrary to the constitutional provisions contained in clause (4A) and (4B) of Article 16 and Article 335 and law predicated in M Nagraj,” the court said.

“Consequently, various promotions of SCs (Scheduled Castes) and STs (Scheduled Tribes) category made on the basis of these Rules of 2002 are held to be non-est in the eyes of law and the persons be placed in the position as if the said rules never existed and all actions taken in furtherance thereof must be reverted to status quo,” the court said.

"The implication of this judgement will be that all the promotions made under the rules of 2002 are non est (invalid) in the eyes of law and will be reverted and the gradation lists of various departments will have to be redrawn as prior to the enactment of rules of 2002," said advocate Amol Shrivastava, who represented one of the petitioners.