Supreme Court upholds SC/ST reservation in promotions.

The Supreme Court has ordered yesterday that, reservation in promotion to SC/ST employees would be “in accordance with law”. The back ground of this judgement is as follows:-

Reservation in promotions are allowed since 1955. However, in 1992, the Supreme Court held that, such promotions are unconstitutional. In 1995, the law was amended to allow quota in promotions. Again this was challenged in the Supreme Court in 2006. However, this time, the Supreme Court held that, framing any law on the matter should satisfy the test of (1) backwardness (2) inadequate representation and (3) overall efficiency. Based on this, many high courts gave judgements, denying reservation in promotions. To face this situation, the UPA government introduced a bill in the Parliament, stating that, all SCs and STs shall be deemed backward. This bill is yet to be passed by the Parliament. It is under these circumstances that yesterday, the Supreme Court allowed reservation in promotions, till it decides legality of the law.