Editorial

Source: The Hindu

Introduction

A political debate has been emerged over reservation issues between the political parties in India. The debate is surrounding the inclusion of Muslims in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) in Karnataka. Proponents argue that it aligns with the constitutional objective of achieving social justice. However, opponents raise concerns, pointing to historical opposition against reservations based solely on religious grounds.

What is the Reservation?

• Reservation is a form of positive discrimination, created to promote equality among marginalized sections, so as to protect them from social and historical injustice.
• Generally, it means giving preferential treatment to marginalized sections of society in employment and access to education.
• It was also originally developed to correct years of discrimination and to give a boost to disadvantaged groups.
• In India, people have been historically discriminated on the basis of caste.

What are Constitutional Provisions Regarding Reservation in India?

• Part XVI of the Constitution of India, 1950 (COI) deals with reservation of SC and ST in Central and State legislatures.
• Article 15(4) and 16(4) of the COI enabled the State and Central Governments to reserve seats in government services for the members of the SC and ST.
• The Constitution was amended by the Constitution (77^th Amendment) Act, 1995 and a new clause (4A) was inserted in Article 16 to enable the government to provide reservation in promotion.
• Later, clause (4A) was modified by the Constitution (85^th Amendment) Act, 2001 to provide consequential seniority to SC and ST candidates promoted by giving reservation.
• Constitutional 81^st Amendment Act, 2000 inserted Article 16 (4 B) which enables the state to fill the unfilled vacancies of a year which are reserved for SCs/STs in the succeeding year, thereby nullifying the ceiling of fifty percent reservation on total number of vacancies of that year.
• Article 330 and 332 of COI provides for specific representation through reservation of seats for SCs and STs in the Parliament and in the State Legislative Assemblies respectively.
• Article 243D provides reservation of seats for SCs and STs in every Panchayat.
• Article 233T provides reservation of seats for SCs and STs in every Municipality.
• Article 335 of the constitution says that the claims of STs and STs shall be taken into consideration constituently with the maintenance of efficacy of the administration.

What is the Timeline Development of Reservation?

What is the Judicial View Regarding Reservation?

• The State of Madras v. Smt.Champakam Dorairajan (1951) case was the first major Case of the Supreme Court on the issue of Reservation. The case led to the First Amendment in the constitution.
  • The Supreme Court pointed out that while in the case of employment under the State, Article 16(4) provides for reservations in favour of backward class of citizens, no such provision was made in Article 15.
  • Pursuant to the Supreme Court’s order in the case, Parliament amended Article 15 by inserting Clause (4).
• In Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992) case the court examined the scope and extent of Article 16(4).
  • The court has said that the creamy layer of OBCs should be excluded from the list of beneficiaries of reservation, there should not be reservation in promotions, and total reserved quota should not exceed 50%.
• The Parliament responded by enacting the 77^th Constitutional Amendment Act. 1995 which introduced Article 16(4A).
  • The Article confers power on the state to reserve seats in favor of SC and ST communities in promotions in Public Services if the communities are not adequately represented in public employment.
• The Supreme Court in M. Nagaraj v. Union of India (2006) case while upholding the constitutional validity of Art 16(4A) held that any such reservation policy in order to be constitutionally valid shall satisfy the following three constitutional requirements:
  • The SC and ST communities should be socially and educationally backward.
  • The SC and ST communities are not adequately represented in public employment.
  • Such a reservation policy shall not affect the overall efficiency of the administration.
• In Jarnail Singh v. Lachhmi Narain Gupta case (2018), the Supreme Court held that reservation in promotions does not require the State to collect quantifiable data on the backwardness of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
  • The Court held that creamy layer exclusion extends to SC/STs and, hence the State cannot grant reservations in the promotion to SC/ST individuals who belong to the creamy layer of their community.
• In Janhit Abhiyan v. Union of India (2022) the constitutional validity of 103^rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019 was challenged. The Supreme Court upheld the validity of 103rd Constitutional Amendment.
  • The Court introduced 10% EWS reservation under the 103^rd Constitution (Amendment) Act, 2019 by amending Articles 15 and 16.
  • It inserted Article 15 (6) and Article 16 (6).

Conclusion

The reservation policy was introduced only for a temporary timeframe until equality reigns amongst all bases of discrimination. However, the policy of reservation has been continuing for over six decades now and has been expanding.

Since, Reservation is necessary to provide equality, equity, and diversity in society. The Policy of reservation results in social upliftment of marginalized sections, however, there is a need for rationalizing this current policy so that a balance can be established between social mobility and merit.