EQUALITY FORUM Vs. STATE OF ASSAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The writ petitioner in WP(C) 4034/2013, viz. 'Equality Forum' is a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1960 and has approached this Court by filing the above noted writ petition with the following prayers :-

(2.) Writ petition No. WP(C) 2752/2013 has been preferred by 2(two) individual petitioners who are serving under the establishment of Commissioner of Taxes, Assam. In this writ petition also, the petitioners have prayed for quashing the Assam Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of vacancies in Service and Post) (Amendment) Act, 2012 (herein after referred to as the Amended Act of 2012) as well as the provision of Sec. 5 of the parent Act, viz. Assam Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Vacancies in Service and Post) Act, 1978 (herein after referred to as the Act of 1978); for setting aside the notifications dtd. 08/03/2013 and 13/03/2013 notifying Post Based Roster Register for the cadre of Deputy Commissioner of Taxes in the department of Finance (Taxation) as well as for other consequential reliefs.

(3.) From the pleadings in both the writ petitions, it is apparent that the primary challenge in both the writ petitions is in respect of Sec. 5 of the Act of 1978 as well as Sec. 5A of the Amendment Act of 2012. According to the writ petitioners, the State had failed to gather quantifiable data before enacting either Sec. 5 of the Act of 1978 or Sec. 5A of the Amendment Act of 2012 as regards adequacy of representation of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates in service and also pertaining to maintenance of efficiency in administration, which were sin-e-qua-non for making provision for reservation in promotion as per the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court rendered in the case of M. Nagraj Vs. Union of India reported in (2006) 8 SCC 212 as well as the case of Jarnail Singh Vs. Lachhmi Narain Gupta and others reported in (2018) 10 SCC 396 (in short Jarnail Singh 'I). As such, submit the petitioners, the statute is liable to be struck down on such ground and the departmental authorities are also liable to be directed to first collect quantifiable data on the question of adequate representation of the reserved category candidates in service and also on the point of efficiency in administration before enacting any law for providing reservation in promotion.