Reservation In Promotions : SC Verdict Discussed In Lok Sabha

The clarification comes after the opposition queries on the Supreme Court verdict in Mukesh Kumar v. State of Uttarakhand, which held that reservation in promotions is not a fundamental right.

The matter was taken up during the Zero hour, when Social Justice Minister, Thaawar Chand Gehlot clarified that the govt. has taken cognizance of the matter and appropriate steps will be taken in this regard.

On February 7, the Supreme Court held that Article 16 (4) and 16 (4-A) are mere enabling provisions and they do not confer fundamental right to claim reservations in promotion.

The bench of Justice L. Nageswara Rao and Justice Hemant Gupta observed that no mandamus can be issued by the Court to the State to collect quantifiable data relating to adequacy of representation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in public services.

The issue was raised during Zero Hour by Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who said that the decision undermined the essence of reservations. He said that reservation was a constitutional guarantee for scheduled castes and tribes.

Kalyan Bannerjee, TMC said that Article 16(4) is a part of Fundamental Rights under Part III of the Constitution and urged that steps should be taken for correcting the decision. DMK's A. Raja asked the government to file review petition in the Supreme Court or to bring a special law to counter it.

Union Minister Gehlot said that the Centre was not a party in the case and that the issue was being studied.

"We are studying the subject and we will take an appropriate decision", Gehlot said.