CHENNAI: The Madras High Court refused to transfer reserved category candidates from Scheduled Caste to Scheduled Tribe or vice versa in promotion when no candidates were available in the particular category, as it would go against the mandate of Article 16 of the Constitution of India.
A division bench of Justice D Krishnakumar and Justice K Kumaresh Babu heard a petition moved by Sathyakani seeking retrospective promotional benefit for her service by exchanging the earmarked reserved category.
The petitioner contended that she was appointed as a staff nurse in 1994; despite being eligible for the next post as a nursing assistant after completing three years of service, she was only promoted to the post belatedly in 2000.
Even though she was eligible to be promoted to the next higher post of assistant nursing superintendent in 2005, she was given the post only in 2013. Hence, she claimed that she is entitled to retrospective promotion to the respective category by filling the vacancies earmarked for ST candidates on an exchange basis with all consequential benefits, including seniority and back wages.
After the submission, the bench wrote that if the claim of the petitioner --exchange of a particular reserved category candidate, when there are no candidates available in the specific category to another category -- is to be accepted, it would lead to a situation where there will be no representation of a particular reserved category, which is against Article 16 of the Constitution.
Reservation in promotion had been made only to see that there are sufficient representations of a particular reserved category, wrote the bench.
“We are afraid that if the claim of the petitioner is accepted, it will create an anomalous situation where a person in a feeder category would be entitled to promotion to the next higher category, even though there are no vacancies in the higher category which would lead to a situation, where there will be more number of persons working in the higher category than the sanctioned strength,” wrote the bench and dismissed the petition.