CHANDIGARH: The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has directed the Punjab government to consider reservations in promotion of judicial officers and other court employees belonging to the Scheduled Caste category.
While hearing a petition highlighting denial of reservation in promotion to the SC employees in courts across Punjab, commission chairman Vijay Sampla asked the Punjab government to submit the progress report to the commission within two weeks. During the hearing those present included Punjab special secretary (home affairs and justice)Baldeep Kaur, registrar general of Punjab and Haryana high court Sanjeev Berry and joint secretary of the Union ministry of law and justice Anju Rathi Rana.
The commission also expressed its displeasure over the fact that no concrete action has been taken on the commission’s recommendations in its previous hearings even after the lapse of considerable time.
The petitioner who had approached the commission had submitted that the state government had passed a law - Punjab Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes (Reservation in Services) Act, 2006 - and as per the Act group A & B employees would get 14 % reservation, group C and D will get 20 % reservation in promotions, but had never implemented in the case of judicial services and for other court employees.
Sampla said, “The Supreme Court in State of Bihar and another Vs Bal Mukund Saha and others (2000), held that any office or establishment of the judiciary of the state of Bihar concerned with appointments to public services and posts in connection with affairs of the judiciary of the state of Bihar would fall within the sweep of the term ‘establishment’.
On similar lines, engagement of judicial officers and other court employees in various courts of Punjab must be in the ‘establishment’ category of the state government.”
The commission has now recommended that the home department in Punjab would immediately move the file for implementation, in accordance with the reservation rules.
