Apex court upholds quota in promotion for SC, STs

New Delhi/ Bengaluru: The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the Karnataka government's 2018 law which provided for reservation in promotion and seniority to SC and ST employees, saying that establishing them as participants in governance was "intrinsic to an equal citizenship".

A bench of Justices U.U. Lalit and D.Y. Chandrachud said that providing reservation would not affect the efficiency of administration, was "not at odds with the principle of meritocracy" and "cannot be treated as the acquisition of creamy layer status". The court said it cannot be construed that promotees from SC and ST categories are not efficient or that efficiency would be reduced by appointing them as this was a "stereotypical assumption".

The SC/ST employees in Karnataka have welcomed the order and thanked the state government for protecting their interests.  With this, all employees who were demoted after the apex court's 2017 order holding the earlier Reservation Act of 2002 as invalid, would be promoted. As many as 3,500 employees were demoted and to protect the interests of these employees, the previous Congress government headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had passed an Act in this regard which has now been upheld.

After both Houses of the Legislature passed the Act unanimously, it was sent to President Ramnath Kovind who had given his assent.