The Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld the Haryana Government's decision to provide reservation in promotions to Scheduled Caste (SC) employees in Group 'A' and 'B' posts. However, the Court made it clear that employees belonging to the "creamy layer" must be excluded before implementing the reservation policy.
“The respondent shall exclude employees belonging to creamy layer before implementing impugned instructions,” Justice Jagmohan Bansal stated, reinforcing the constitutional mandate under Article 16(4A).
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This direction came while deciding multiple petitions, including Deepak Bamber v. State of Haryana and Ors, that challenged the Haryana Government’s instructions dated 07.10.2023 granting reservation in promotions to SC employees. Petitioners argued that the power to implement such a policy lies with the State Government and not the Departmental Promotion Committees. They also asserted that the creamy layer within the SC category must be excluded to ensure fairness.
While examining the submissions, the Court observed that the State had collected quantifiable data before issuing the reservation instructions. This data showed inadequate representation of SC employees in Group A and B posts through promotions, despite there being sufficient representation in Group C and D.
“There was reservation of 20% in Group A and B posts for direct recruitment. But promotions were more frequent than direct recruitment, and thus SC representation remained inadequate,” the Court highlighted.
The High Court referred to the Supreme Court judgment in Jarnail Singh & Ors. v. Lachhmi Narain Gupta & Ors. and noted that the State had fulfilled its obligation of collecting cadre-wise and group-wise data to justify the promotion policy.
The Court also clarified that the role of the Departmental Committees was only to implement the State's policy, and there was no delegation of decision-making power to these committees.
“The State has exercised its power under Article 16(4A) of the Constitution. The Committees are simply following instructions of the Government,” the judgment emphasized.
While addressing concerns under Article 335, which deals with administrative efficiency, the Court remarked that the State had not bypassed merit. Even SC candidates must meet the eligibility rules for promotion.
“If a person is not eligible, he will not be promoted. Efficiency has not been compromised while granting reservation,” noted Justice Bansal.
The Court concluded by referring to the Supreme Court’s ruling in M. Nagaraj & Ors. v. Union of India, reiterating that creamy layer exclusion is mandatory even in reservation for promotions among SC/ST candidates.
“The State is bound to comply with the principle of creamy layer exclusion before granting promotion reservations,” the Court underlined.
Title: Deepak Bamber v. State of Haryana and Ors [along with other decisions]
