More than 4,000 current employees from the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in Karnataka will retain their seniority, after the Supreme Court on Friday, 10 May, upheld the validity of the Karnataka government’s law providing them with a one-time consequential promotion.
The apex court upheld the Karnataka Extension of Consequential Seniority to Government Servants Promoted on the Basis of Reservation (to the posts of Civil Services of the State) Act, 2017, stating the government has backed the law with necessary data.
An earlier law passed by Karnataka government providing similar promotions was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2017, leading to over 4,000 SC/ST employees losing seniority they gained from the law. But, with the new law getting the Supreme Court’s nod, these seniorities will be retained.
The Old and New Laws
An earlier law – Karnataka Determination of Seniority of the Government Servants Promoted on the Basis of Reservation – had provided one time promotion to SC/ST employees. But this was challenged in the court.
On 9 February 2017, in the BK Pavithra judgement the SC struck down the consequential seniority in promotions awarded under this law for SC/ST employees since 1978. The SC had cited the lack of proper exercise to determine “inadequacy of representation, backwardness and overall efficiency” for providing reservations in promotion as the reason for its decision.
Following this, a new law – Karnataka Extension of Consequential Seniority to Government Servants Promoted on the Basis of Reservation – was brought in to save the interest of the SC/ST employees whose seniority was withdrawn following the BK Pavithra judgement. This law received president’s assent in June 2018, but even this was challenged in the court.
What Did the SC Observe
A bench of Justices UU Lalit and DY Chandrachud pointed out that in the new law the Karnataka government provided necessary data to back the claim for the reservation and had rectified the deficiencies noted in the BK Pavithra judgment regarding the earlier law.
One of the key developments in the case has been a report titled Report on Backwardness, Inadequacy of Representation and Administrative Efficiency in Karnataka submitted by a committee led by former Karnataka Chief Secretary Rathna Prabha, which the SC called ‘requisite exercise’ for the case. This report provided the necessary data to support the government decision to pass the law.