NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today asked the Centre as to why states have not come forward with any quantifiable data to decide the inadequacy of representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Government services even 12 years after its verdict on the ‘creamy layer’.
The Apex Court’s query came after the Centre said that M Nagaraj verdict of 2006, which had dealt with the issue of ‘creamy layer’ for reservations to SC and ST categories in Government job promotions, has virtually stopped the promotions by putting criteria like backwardness, inadequate representation and overall administrative efficiency, and it requires reconsideration by a larger bench.
The Centre, however, contended these criteria should be done away with as SCs and STs are presumed as backward and there was no need to have a quantifiable data to prove that such categories of employees suffered from backwardness.
A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra clarified that the reference order to the Constitution bench is very limited that whether the M Nagaraj verdict requires reconsideration or not.
The bench, also comprising justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Indu Malhotra, said that Centre’s stand is that 2006 verdict requires reconsideration. (AGENCIES)
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