1. Promotion dispute — Labour Inspector posts — SC reservation quota — Alleged failure to follow roster points for filling vacancies. (Para 1 )
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1998 Supreme(SC) 813
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
K.T.Thomas : S.Saghir Ahmad
Bhup Singh
Versus
State Of Haryana
Case No. : 15511 of 1996
Date of Decision : 8/13/98
A roster is a guideline to fill reserved quotas. Once the prescribed quota for a reserved category is achieved within a cadre, the roster ceases to have utility for that category, and there is no justification to operate it further.
Headnote:(A) Service Law - Reservation - Roster Points - Utility of a roster is to provide a guideline for filling up the reserved quota for different groups vis-a-vis the candidates from the General category - Once the quota is achieved for a community entitled to reservation, the roster ceases to have utility for that community because the guideline would already have been followed (Para 4).
(B) Roster - Operation of roster - When the total number of posts in a cadre are filled by operation of the roster, the result envisaged by the instructions is achieved - There is no justification to operate the roster thereafter - The running account is to operate only till the quota provided under the instructions is reached and not thereafter (Para 4).
Facts of the case:
An applicant belonging to a Scheduled Caste sought promotion to a post where the total cadre strength was 44, with a 20% reservation quota for Scheduled Castes. The applicant contended that a vacancy earmarked for a Scheduled Caste at a specific roster point was filled by a candidate from the General category, thereby infringing upon the applicant's right to promotion. The government contended that the 20% quota, amounting to nine posts, had already been filled by nine members of the Scheduled Caste through a combination of promotion and direct recruitment.
Findings of Court:
The court found that since the prescribed quota for the Scheduled Caste had already been attained, the roster points lost their utility for the purpose of reservation for that specific category.
Issues: Whether roster points must be strictly followed for filling vacancies even after the reserved quota for a particular category has been fully achieved.
Ratio Decidendi: The court ruled that a roster serves as a guideline to achieve the reserved quota. Once the quota is reached, the roster ceases to be applicable for that community, as the objective of the reservation policy has been fulfilled, and there is no justification to operate the roster thereafter.
Result: Appeal dismissed.
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2. Appellant contends roster points must be strictly followed regardless of quota attainment — Government argues roster utility ceases once the prescribed reserved quota is achieved. (Para 2 , 3 )
3. Roster serves as a guideline for filling reserved quotas — once the prescribed quota is achieved, the roster ceases to have utility for that community. (Para 4 )
4. A reservation roster operates only until the prescribed quota is reached and ceases to have utility once the quota is achieved. (Para 4 , 5 )
5. Appeal dismissed. (Para 6 )
6. What is the utility of a roster in the context of reserved category appointments?
A roster provides a guideline for filling the reserved quota for different groups vis-a-vis candidates from the general category. (Para 4 )
7. Does a reservation roster continue to operate after the prescribed quota has been achieved?
No, once the total number of posts in a cadre are filled according to the quota, the roster ceases to have utility and there is no justification to operate it thereafter. (Para 4 , 5 )
JUDGMENT
S.SAGHIR AHMAD, J.
(1) THE appellant herein was an applicant for the post of Labour Inspector in the Labour Department of the State of Haryana. He was holding the post of Assistant in the same Department and he put forth the claim as eligible to be promoted to the post of Labour InspectoR.A total cadre strength of 44 posts of Labour Inspectors has been fixed. As per the relevant Rule, they were to be filled up by promotion as well as by direct recruitment in equal divisions. Reservation quota for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes has been fixed up as per the letter dated 9/2/1979, issued by the government. Out of that quota, 20% of the posts were reserved for members of the Scheduled Castes alone. It is not necessary to refer to the other quota for the other classes, since that is not material now and the only claim of the appellant is that since he belongs to a Scheduled Caste, he should have been one of the promotees. A roster was formulated containing 100 points indicating the posts against which the appointments were to be made. The grievance of the appellant is that when Point No. 68 in the roster was earmarked for a member of a Scheduled Caste, that vacancy was filled up from General category and thereby upset the appellants right to get promoted. If the roster had been followed, the appellant would have been the right candidate for filling up that vacancy, which tallied with Roster Point No. 68 according to the appellant. With the aforesaid contentions, he approached the High court of Punjab and Haryana with a writ petition, but a Division bench of the High court dismissed the writ petition by the impugned order.
(2) THE stand adopted by the government of Haryana and the other respondents is the following:
OUT of the total cadre strength of 44 Labour Inspectors, the quota of 20% for the Scheduled Castes would not exceed nine which alone should go to the benefit of candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes by way of reservation. Those nine posts can be filled up by promotion as well as by direct recruitment. As a matter of fact, nine persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes were already promoted or appointed in the cadre of Labour Inspectors on the strength of their having Scheduled Caste candidates (sic certificates). Five among them were promoted candidates and four among them were appointed by direct recruitment. That all those nine persons belong to the Scheduled Castes has not been controverted either before the High court or before us. The division bench of the High court, therefore, took the view that, inasmuch as the nine posts were admittedly filled up by members of the Scheduled Castes, the prescribed quota has already been attained and the roster points thereby lost their utility as for the Scheduled Caste reservation posts. In the said view of the matter, the High Court found that the appellant cannot press for displacement of the candidate selected from the General category on the ground that the same was as against Roster Point No. 68.
(3) LEARNED counsel for the appellant contended that in view of the legal position elucidated by this court in Prabhash Chand Jain v. State of Haryana roster points should have been taken into consideration while filling up the vacancies irrespective of the question whether candidates belonging to the reserved categories have already been selected or not. The question involved in that case was whether the government is entitled to issue a circular that, when there are only two posts, reservation policy need not be implemented. In that context, learned Judges observed that such a letter ought not have been issued by the government and vacancies should have been filled up according to the roster points.
(4) UTILITY of a roster is to provide a guideline for filling up the reserved quota for different groups vis-a-vis the candidates from the General category. Once the quota is achieved as for o
