The Central Government has notified the Supreme Court that reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes will be provided in temporary postings lasting 45 days or beyond. It went on to say that orders had been issued to all Ministries and Departments to strictly implement the reservation for temporary positions.
The union government represented by Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj said this to the bench comprising justices Sanjv Khanna and SVN Bhatti in response to a writ petition seeking SC/ST/OBC reservation in temporary jobs.
It referred to the Office Memorandum no. 41034/4/2022-Estt. (RES-I) dated November 21, 2022, issued by the Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India, which guaranteed reservation to SC/ST/OBC candidates in temporary appointments lasting 45 days or more, as well as prior Office Memorandums issued in 1968 and 2018.
The OM also pointed to a report by the Parliamentary Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, which found that the guidelines for reservations in temporary positions were not being followed in full by all departments.
…all the Ministries/Departments are requested to ensure that reservations for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes/Other Backward Classes shall be made in all temporary appointments which are to last for 45 days or more. These instructions should be conveyed to all concerned for strict compliance,” the ministry said.
Taking these OM into consideration, the bench dismissed the writ petition. The Court underlined that if there is a violation of this Office Memorandum, it will be open to the petitioners or an aggrieved party to seek proper legal remedies.
The court further recorded the statement of the Union Government’s counsel that a mechanism is present for dealing with instances of failure in abiding by the 21/11/2022 Office Memorandum.
For the petitioners, senior advocates Sanjay Hegde, Ayush Negi, AOR, Kartik Venu, Adv, Vishakha Upadhyay, Adv, and Shikhar Chanda, Adv appeared before the court.
