SC opens up staff jobs for OBC and SC/ST blocs, 'omits' EWS
NEW DELHI: CJI B R Gavai, second from the Dalit community to head the judiciary, has amended the Supreme Court Officers and Servant (Conditions of Service and Conduct) Rules, 1961, to provide for reservations to SCs, STs, OBCs, physically challenged, ex-servicemen and dependents of freedom fighters in direct recruitments to subordinate staff of the apex court.
Rule 4A of the Act, amended and substituted on the CJI's instructions, has been gazetted through a notification issued on July 3. However, it omits reservation for candidates belonging to the economically weaker section (EWS), which was introduced by Parliament through Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019.
The substituted Section 4A, as gazetted, reads: "Reservation in direct recruitment to various categories of posts specified in the Schedule, for the candidates belonging to SCs, STs, OBCs, Physically Challenged, Ex-servicemen and dependant of Freedom Fighters shall be in accordance with the Rules, orders, and Notifications issued from time to time by the Government of India in respect of posts carrying the pay scale corresponding to the pay scale prescribed for the post specified in the Schedule, subject to such modification, variation or exception as the Chief Justice may, from time to time, specify.
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The 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act introduced Articles 15(6) and 16(6) to give effect to 10% reservation for EWS in govt jobs and admissions to govt and govt-aided educational institutions. It received Presidential assent on Jan 12, 2019. The constitutional validity of EWS quota was challenged in Supreme Court by more than 20 petitions, mainly on the ground that it exceeded the 50% ceiling on quota imposed by SC in its Indra Sawhney judgment in 1992.
A five-judge bench led by then CJI U U Lalit on Nov 7, 2022, by three to two majority, declared that Parliament's decision to provide quota for EWS category was constitutionally valid. The majority view was shared by Justices Dinesh Maheswari, Bela M Trivedi and J B Pardiwala, while Justices Lalit and S R Bhat ruled that EWS quota was illegal.
On Dec 6, 2022, NGO 'Society for the Rights of Backward Communities' filed a petition seeking review of the Nov 7 judgment. A five-judge bench led by then CJI D Y Chandrachud on May 9, 2023 dismissed the review petition, thus giving judicial impregnability to the validity of the EWS quota.
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