Kurian Joseph. J

1. Social reservation and special reservation are two different concepts in the matter of public employment. Both concepts are permitted under the Constitution of India. Art.16 deals with such reservation. The Article reads as follows:-

“16. Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment,-- (1) There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State.

(2) No citizen shall, on ground only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of, any employment or office under the State.

(3) Nothing in this Article shall prevent parliament from making any law prescribing, in regard to a class or classes of employment if appointment to an office under the Government of, or any local or that authority within, a State or Union Territory, any requirement as to residence within that State or Union Territory prior to such employment or appointment.

(4) Nothing in this Article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the state, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.

(4-A) Nothing in this Article shall prevent the State from making any provision for reservation in matters of promotion with consequential seniority, to any class or classes of posts in the services under the State in favour of Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes which, in the opinion of the States, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.

(4-B) Nothing in this Article shall prevent the State from considering any unfilled vacancies of a year which are reserved for being filled up in that year in accordance with any provision for reservation made under clause (4) or clause (4A) as a separate class of vacancies to be filled up in a succeeding year or years and such class of vacancies shall not be considered together with the vacancies of the year in which they are being filled up for determining the ceiling of fifty percent reservation on total number of vacancies of that year.

(5) Nothing in this Article shall affect the operation of any law which provides that the incumbent of an office in connection with the affairs of any religious or denominational institution or any member of the governing body thereof shall be a person professing a particular religion or belonging to a particular denomination.”

While Art.16(1) deals with special reservation, if required to a void inequality, Art .16(4) deals with social reservation in tune with Articles 38 and 39 of part IV of the Constitution of India. Social reservation is intended to provide for the inadequately represented backward classes. With their social backwardness. State feels that they are not in a position to compete with forward classes. Therefore, communal reservation has been introduced. The question is whether the principle of communal reservation is to be followed while making special reservation. Special reservation is intended to achieve a special objective to provide for the disabled, the ex-servicemen, women, etc. If such special categories are to be provided in public service and in case therein also communal reservation is followed, it would defeat the very purpose of special reservation. That is not intended by the framers of the Constitution. The intention is otherwise. As held by the Supreme Court in Mahesh Gupta v. Yashwant kumar Ahirwar (AIR 2007 SC 3136 ) reservation under Art.16(1) – special reservation – is horizontal reservation; whereas reservation under Art.16 (1) – Social reservation – is vertical. In special reservation, there is no need or relevance for communal reservation. They are a class in themselves. It has also been held by the Supreme Court that while providing for special reservation even the limit of 50 % reservation as m