In a shot of arm for the Raghubar Das Government, the Jharkhand High Court on Wednesday vacated stay on the reservation in promotion to the State Government SC/ST/OBC employees in the wake of the Supreme Court order on June 6 last.
A Division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Amitabh Gupta, while hearing a petition from the State Government, however, said that the quota in promotion will be subject to the final verdict of the Apex Court in this regard.
The bench said that the case should be listed after the final verdict of the SC’s constitution bench comes in the case.
Appearing for the State Government, Advocate General Ajit Kumar argued that the promotion rules framed by the State Government can’t be declared unjustified. He said that the SC/ST and OBC groups are still backward and the State government wants to give them reservation in promotion for their overall development.
Appearing on behalf of the petitioner, lawyer Ashok Kumar Singh said that the Supreme Court had framed 6-point guidelines, including social-economic census for giving quota in promotion in Nagraj case. However, the State government has not acted on any of the guidelines, Singh stated. So, the lifting the stay on promotion is not at all justified, he added.
The HC had put a stay on quota in promotion on February 17, 2017 while hearing a petition filed by Amrendra Kumar Singh.