SC/ST quota for job promotion: SC seeks Centre's response

The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Centre on a plea alleging that it has failed to adhere to its earlier order of maintaining status quo with regard to reservation in job promotion for Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes.
The order was passed by a bench comprising Justices J Chelameswar and A M Sapre.
The apex court had on February 3, 2015 ordered status quo in job promotion for SCs/STs on the basis of quota and had clubbed several special leave petitions filed by various central government departments, including Income Tax department and Indian Railways.
A plea seeking initiation of contempt proceedings filed by NGO Samta Andolan Samiti through its president Parashar Narayan Sharma has alleged that despite the status quo order of the court, the central government has failed to implement it and several promotion orders for various posts in all cadres were issued.

The apex court had earlier this year has held that Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe members cannot claim quota as a right in government job promotion, as the State was not constitutionally obliged to give preferential treatment to any community in promotion.
It had said that the government was not bound by any constitutional provision to frame a policy for reservation in promotion and the court could not order making reservation in promotion mandatory.

Referring to Articles 16(4), 16(4-A) and 16(4-B) of the Constitution mandating socially affirmative action to help disadvantaged groups, the apex court had said the State was not bound to make reservation for SCs/STs in promotion.

It had said the provisions allowed the government to exercise discretion and provide for reservation only after collecting quantifiable data showing backwardness of a class and inadequacy of their representation in public employment.
Article 16(4-A) provides that nothing shall prevent the State from making any provision for reservation in matters of promotion, with consequential seniority, to any class or classes of posts in the services in favour of SCs and STs which, in the opinion of the State, were not adequately represented.