NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to review the 2006 order on SC/ST quota in promotions and said that the matter will not be referred to a 7-judge bench. The five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held that the 2006 Judgment referred to as the Nagaraj case, stands the backwardness test.
The court also clarified that there is no need to collect quantifiable data of backwardness of SC/STs to provide reservation in promotions. In the 2006 judgment, the SC had held that it is not mandatory to make reservations for promotion in jobs for SC/ST members.
The apex court was giving the verdict on Centre's plea seeking reconsideration of the 2006 judgment laying down the criteria for reservation in promotion for SC/ST employees.
The top court by its 2006 judgment had said: "...state will have to show in each case the existence of compelling reasons, namely backwardness, inadequacy of representation and overall administrative efficiency, before making provision for reservation in promotion."
The October 19, 2006 judgment was pronounced by a five-judge constitution bench comprising Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, K.G. Balakrishnan, S.H. Kapadia, C.K. Thakker and P.K. Balasubramanyan.
Making it clear that the concept of creamy layer within the SC/ST is not the issue, the bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Kurian Joseph, Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Indu Malhotra had earlier said: "There may be individuals (within SC/ST) who might have overcome the stigma, but the community continues to face the stigma."
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