New Delhi: Members of Parliament in the new Parliament building during a special session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Tuesday, September 19, 2023. (Photo: IANS/Sansad Tv)
Besides CJI Chandrachud, other judges on the bench were Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, Bela M Trivedi, Pankaj Mithal, Manoj Misra, and Satish Chandra Sharma…reports Asian Lite News
A parliamentary panel disclosed that selection panels often unfairly label Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) candidates as “not suitable” for faculty roles due to biased assessments, depriving them of rightful opportunities.
The report, submitted to the Lok Sabha, scrutinised the role of various educational institutions in the socio-economic development of SC/ST communities. It dismissed the government’s claim of a scarcity of qualified candidates, asserting that SC/ST applicants are often equally competent but fall victim to prejudiced evaluations.
The panel, led by Lok Sabha MP Kirit Premjibhai Solanki, highlighted the absence of SC/ST representation in selection committees, urging mandatory inclusion to ensure fair representation and policy participation. Furthermore, it criticised the lack of reservation in super-specialty courses, resulting in the exclusion of SC/ST candidates and the dominance of unreserved faculty members.
The report advocated for the enforcement of reservation policies in all super-specialty fields, proposing specialized training opportunities abroad to enhance SC/ST representation.
Meanwhile, the Central Government on Wednesday submitted before the Supreme Court that it is in favour of doing sub-classifications among Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes.
Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta informed a seven-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.
Besides CJI Chandrachud, other judges on the bench were Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, Bela M Trivedi, Pankaj Mithal, Manoj Misra, and Satish Chandra Sharma.
The Seven Judge Constitution Bench was dealing with issues relating to the sub-classification of reserved communities like SCs and STs.
Appearing for Centre, SG Mehta said that the reservation benefits available are limited in nature.
He submitted that the enabling of sub-classification of SC/ST and other backward classes would provide the Central government and the State government, with the appropriate free-play in joints, to frame appropriate policies in furtherance of the high constitutional ideal of social justice, which seeks to achieve de-facto equality of opportunity.
The State can only provide for a limited number of seats in government higher education institutions and posts in the government services which are reserved.
The said seats and the posts are even otherwise a scarce commodity and therefore required to be re-distributed rationally. Considering the scarce nature, the community must be distributed efficiently and for the actual purpose it seeks to achieve, he said
To achieve the actual objective behind reservations, rationalisation is key and proliferation and deepening of the reservation benefits are necessary. The sub-classification of the benefits is a key measure that goes a long way to achieve the said objective. This ensures that there is a trickle-down effect of reservations, SG Mehta submitted.
The Constitution permits reservations at the level of higher education, entry-level in the government service sector, and promotion in government services. The persons who would most likely be capable of taking benefit of this earmarking of seats/posts would be persons who are relatively “forward” within the backward class, the government said.
As on December 31, 2020, a total number of 14,459 posts for ST were vacant while 20,702 posts of OBCs were vacant in the various government ministries and departments, reports Asian Lite News
Over 34,000 posts for Schedule Tribes and Other Backward Class (OBC) are lying vacant in the various Ministries/Departments till December 31, 2020, the Parliament was told on Wednesday.
As on December 31, 2020, a total number of 14,459 posts for ST were vacant while 20,702 posts of OBCs were vacant in the various government ministries and departments. Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions Minister Jitendra Singh told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.
He also said that the government monitors the progress in respect of filling of backlog reserved vacancies for SCs, STs and OBCs in ten Ministries/Departments, which contribute more than 90 per cent of total number of employees of the Central Government.
According to the data till December 31, 2020, the highest number of posts for STs -4,405 – were vacant in the Railways while the Ministry of Home Affairs has 5,479 posts of OBCs vacant.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affair has the lowest number – 43 – posts for STs vacant while 181 posts were vacant in OBC category.
Singh also said in his reply that occurrence and filling of vacancies by various recruiting agencies of Central government including Union Public Service Commission and Staff Selection Commission is a continuous process on the basis of requisitioning by the respective cadre controlling authorities while the data regarding vacancies filled by State recruiting agencies is maintained by the respective state governments.
UP directed to decide on Rajbhars
The Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to take a decision within two months on the representation that seeks the inclusion of the state’s Bhar/Rajbhar community in the Scheduled Tribes (STs) list.
Till now, this community was treated as part of the Other Backward Class (OBC) in the state.
Disposing a writ petition filed by ‘Jago Rajbhar Jago Samiti’ and another, a division bench comprising Justices Siddhartha Varma and Dinesh Pathak observed that since the Central government has forwarded the petitioner’s representation to the Uttar Pradesh government, therefore, no useful purpose would be served to keep the matter pending before this court.
Earlier, Agnihotri Kumar Tripathi, the counsel for the petitioner, had contended that keeping in view the past records, the Bhar/Rajbhar community should be treated as ST, but the state government has given them the OBC status.
The members of this community have a strong presence in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh.
The petitioner had applied the plea through a sitting MLA for inclusion in the Rajbhar community of Uttar Pradesh state in the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST). The matter reached the Centre, which had written on October 11, 2021 to the principal secretary, social welfare department, government of Uttar Pradesh, that it could not process the matter unless the proposal for including Bhar/Rajbhar community in the ST list had been processed by the state government.
After hearing all sides, the court noted that nowhere from the record, it transpired that the petitioners had approached the appropriate authority of the state government.
The communication dated October 11, 2011 of the Central government further revealed that the representations, which the petitioners had sent to the various authorities, had been forwarded to the principal secretary, social welfare department, government of Uttar Pradesh, for taking actions.
In its order dated March 11, while observing that “under these circumstances, no useful purpose would be served by keeping this writ petition pending before the high court, the division bench accordingly directed the principal secretary, social welfare department, government of Uttar Pradesh to take a decision on the representations, which have been forwarded to him by the Central Government within a period of two months in accordance with law”.
The cases include — SC-appointed panel will submit its report into Pegasus snooping allegations, verdict on reservation in promotion to SC and ST in government jobs, relevance of adopting OBC creamy layer criteria for granting reservations under the economic weaker section (EWS) among others, reports Asian Lite News
Come new year, the Supreme Court will consider pivotal cases, which broach some of the contentious issues having an impact across the political spectrum.
The cases include — SC-appointed panel will submit its report into Pegasus snooping allegations, verdict on reservation in promotion to SC and ST in government jobs, relevance of adopting OBC creamy layer criteria for granting reservations under the economic weaker section (EWS), Centre’s response on the election process on the seats reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the local body elections in Madhya Pradesh, and the status report from the high court judge monitoring the investigations into the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.
Pegasus Snooping Scandal
The Pegasus snooping allegation has already kicked up a firestorm and rocked Parliament. The Opposition — Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC), and DMK — staged a walkout from the House, and several petitioners moved the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored probe into the allegations.
On October 27, the top court said it was compelled to take up the cause to determine the truth, as it appointed an independent expert technical committee supervised by a retired top court judge, Justice R.V. Raveendran, to probe the Pegasus snooping allegations.
Justice Raveendran is overseeing the functioning of the technical committee and he is assisted by Alok Joshi, former IPS officer and Dr. Sundeep Oberoi, Chairman, Sub Committee in (International Organisation of Standardisation/International Electro-Technical Commission/Joint Technical Committee). The three members of the technical committee are — Dr. Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, Professor (Cyber Security and Digital Forensics) and Dean, National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat; Dr. Prabaharan P., Professor (School of Engineering), Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amritapuri, Kerala; and Dr. Ashwin Anil Gumaste, Institute Chair Associate Professor (Computer Science and Engineering), Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Maharashtra. The bench directed the committee to submit its report expeditiously and scheduled the matter for further hearing after eight weeks.
Reservation Promotion in government jobs for SC and ST
On October 26, the Supreme Court reserved its judgement in connection with the issue of reservation in promotion to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the government jobs. The Centre had earlier told the Supreme Court that granting reservation in promotion to SC/ST employees would not adversely affect the efficiency of the administration.
The Attorney General had submitted that deciding adequacy of representation by SCs and STs in educational institutions or in government employment, the basis of reservation must be kept in mind to decide what should be the standard to be applied for deciding adequacy. The Centre pointed out that the proportion to the population of SCs was 15 per cent, the STs was 7.5 per cent, and the proportion of OBCs to the total population of the country was 52 per cent. The top court is likely to pronounce its verdict soon.
Stay on election process on seats reserved for OBCs in local bodies
On December 17, the Supreme Court stayed the election process on the seats reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the local body elections in Madhya Pradesh. A bench comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and C.T. Ravikumar said: “We direct the Madhya Pradesh State Election Commission to stay the election process in respect of OBCs seats only, in all the local bodies and to renotify those seats for general category.”
The top court passed the order while hearing a miscellaneous application seeking stay of the election notification dated December 4, 2021 issued by the Madhya Pradesh State Election Commission in respect of OBC seats in local bodies. On December 15, the Supreme Court ordered the state election commission (SEC) and the Maharashtra government to convert 27 per cent reserved seats for OBC into general category, for zila parishad & panchayat samitis, and issue fresh notification.
Citing its verdicts, the top court said the election programme needs to be stayed forthwith as it is in conflict with the decision of the Constitution Bench of this court in K. Krishna Murthy (Dr.) & others vs. Union of India and the three Judge Bench in Vikas Kishanrao Gawali vs. State of Maharashtra and others, which was earlier this year.
“First comply with the triple test being a pre-condition, before notifying reservation of seats for other Backward Classes in the local bodies under their jurisdiction,” the top court told the government. The matter is scheduled for further hearing on January 17.
Income limit for EWS quota
On November 25, the Centre had told the Supreme Court that it has taken a decision to revisit the criteria of Rs 8 lakh annual income limit for EWS criteria and a fresh decision will be taken within a period of 4 weeks. Earlier, the Supreme Court had questioned the Centre for adopting the criteria of OBC creamy layer of Rs 8 lakh annual income for granting reservations under the economic weaker section (EWS), despite the latter not suffering from social and educational backwardness. The top court told the Centre’s counsel “You just cannot pull out eight lakh from thin air. You are making unequal equal by applying the Rs eight lakh limit.”
The top court is hearing writ petitions challenging 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and 10 per cent reservation for EWS in all-India Quota seats for postgraduate medical courses. As many as 15 per cent seats in MBBS and 50 per cent seats in MS and MD courses are filled through All India Quota from the candidates selected through NEET.
Status report on Lakhimpur Kheri incident
On November 17, the top court appointed justice Rakesh Kumar Jain, a former judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court, to monitor the Lakhimpur Kheri violence probe and also reconstituted the SIT investigating the incident and appointed IPS officer S.B. Shiradkar, as its head.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana had expressed its disapproval on the slow pace and outcome of the investigation conducted so far, as well as the composition of the SIT conducting probe into the matter. “We, therefore, appoint Justice (Retd.) Rakesh Kumar Jain, a former judge of the Punjab & Haryana High Court, to monitor the ongoing investigation so as to ensure transparency, fairness and absolute impartiality in the outcome of the investigation in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident which is to be conducted in a time bound manner,” said the top court.
The agency is verifying evidence collected against accused and also studying forensic and ballistic reports they received from forensic laboratory, the officer added.https://t.co/2OBCeN2z5e
The court has scheduled the matter for hearing on receipt of a status report from the monitoring judge, after the charge Âsheet is filed. The matter is likely to come up soon for hearing.
The violence occurred on October 3, resulting in the killing of eight persons, including four farmers who were allegedly mowed down by the vehicles in the convoy of Ashish Misra, the son of Union Minister and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Misra.
