1. The writ petitioner in WP(C) 4034/2013, viz. “Equality Forum” is a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1960 and has approached this Court by filing the above noted writ petition with the following prayers :-

“(I) To issue a writ in the nature of Certiorari for setting aside and quashing the impugned Assam Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of vacancies in Service and Post) (Amendment) Act, 2012;

(II) To issue a writ in the nature of Certiorari for setting aside and quashing the impugned provision of Section 5 of the Assam Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of vacancies in Service and Post) Act 1978;

(III) To issue a writ in the nature of Mandamus directing the respondent authorities to comply with the requirements of Article 16(4) A of the Constitution of India as well as the Apex Court’s pronouncements as regard conducting afresh of the preliminary exercise for forming of opinion and for identifying the need of reservation and thereafter, on being satisfied as so, proceed for making laws for providing reservation (if required) in the matters of promotion in the Irrigation, P.W.D., Water Resources Departments to the cadre of Executive Engineers, Superintending Engineers, Additional Chief Engineers in the Department of Irrigation and to the cadres of Executive Engineers, Superintending Engineers, Additional Chief Engineers in the Departments of Water Resources, Public Works Department;

(IV). To issue a writ in the nature of Mandamus directing the respondent authorities to forbear from making any provisions for reservations in the present promotion process already initiated in the Departments of Irrigation, Public Works Department and Water Resources Department, Assam to the aforesaid cadres of Executive Engineers, Superintending Engineers, Additional Chief Engineers in the Department of Irrigation and to the cadres of Executive Engineers, Superintending Engineers, Additional Chief Engineers in the Departments of Water Resources, Public Works Department till the required exercise to identify the need for reservation is not carried out in terms with the mandate of Article 16(4)A of the Constitution of India.”

2. Writ petition No. WP(C) 2752/2013 has been preferred by 2(two) individual petitioners who are serving under the establishment of Commissioner of Taxes, Assam. In this writ petition also, the petitioners have prayed for quashing the Assam Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of vacancies in Service and Post) (Amendment) Act, 2012 (herein after referred to as the Amended Act of 2012) as well as the provision of section 5 of the parent Act, viz. Assam Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Vacancies in Service and Post) Act, 1978 (herein after referred to as the Act of 1978); for setting aside the notifications dated 08/03/2013 and 13/03/2013 notifying Post Based Roster Register for the cadre of Deputy Commissioner of Taxes in the department of Finance (Taxation) as well as for other consequential reliefs.

3. From the pleadings in both the writ petitions, it is apparent that the primary challenge in both the writ petitions is in respect of section 5 of the Act of 1978 as well as section 5A of the Amendment Act of 2012. According to the writ petitioners, the State had failed to gather quantifiable data before enacting either section 5 of the Act of 1978 or section 5A of the Amendment Act of 2012 as regards adequacy of representation of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates in service and also pertaining to maintenance of efficiency in administration, which were sin-e-qua-non for making provision for reservation in promotion as per the decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court rendered in the case of M. Nagraj Vs. Union of India reported in (2006) 8 SCC 212 as well as the case of Jarnail Singh Vs. Lachhmi Narain Gupta & others reported in (2018) 10 SCC 396 (in short Jarnail Singh–I). As such, submit the petitioners, the statute is liabl