SC to hear in January pleas on grant of quota in promotions to SC/ST employees

The Supreme Court said Tuesday it will consider in January all the aspects pertaining to grant of quota in promotions to SC/ST government employees.

A bench, comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices S A Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna, took note of the submissions of counsel for Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Tripura that an earlier order of the apex court to maintain "status quo" was coming in their way in promoting SC/ST and other employees.

"We will hear all the applications on January 28," said the bench.

The Centre has recently urged the top court to refer its last year's verdict excluding the creamy layer within the SC/ST community from reservation benefits to a 7-judge bench for a review.

A 5-judge Constitution bench in 2018 held that the well-off members of the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities cannot be granted the benefits of reservation in college admissions and government jobs.

The top court in the Jarnail Singh case had said that the Constitutional courts in implementing the principal of reservation will be within their jurisdiction to exclude the creamy layer from such groups or sub-groups from quota benefits by applying the principle of equality.

During brief hearing on Tuesday, senior lawyers R S Patwalia, who appeared for Tripura and Bihar and Indira Jaising, representing Madhya Pradesh, said the apex court's order to maintain "status quo" with regard to promotions has created a situation where several hundred posts, to be filled through promotions, are lying vacant.

The court has fixed all the pleas on the issue of grant of quota in promotions to SC and ST employees for hearing on January 28.