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Siddaraju v. State of Karnataka

Civil Appeal · 2020 INSC 36Decided 14 Jan 2020
Civil Appeal No. 1567 of 2017
Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman · Justice Aniruddha Bose · Justice V. Ramasubramanian

Background

A batch of cases, including Siddaraju's own appeal arising from a Central Administrative Tribunal order in Bangalore, came before a three-judge bench on a reference asking whether persons with disabilities under the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 can be given reservation in promotion, not just in direct recruitment. The reference arose because of a perceived conflict with the general rule against reservation in promotion laid down in the Indra Sawhney case. Siddaraju's individual matter involved the Tribunal applying an old 2005 government policy without regard to later Supreme Court rulings favouring reservation for the disabled.

Decision Breakdown

The Court held that the bar on reservation in promotion from Indra Sawhney applies only to caste-based "vertical" reservations under Article 16(4), and does not apply to disability-based "horizontal" reservations under Article 16(1); it reaffirmed its earlier rulings (National Federation of the Blind and Rajeev Kumar Gupta) that persons with disabilities are entitled to 3% reservation in promotion as well as recruitment, in Group A and B posts too. Applying this to Siddaraju's own appeal (Civil Appeal No. 1567 of 2017), the Court set aside both the Tribunal's and the Karnataka High Court's orders, which had followed the outdated 2005 office memorandum, holding that the case must instead be governed by the Court's three reservation-for-disabled judgments. The connected appeals and a review petition were also disposed of in line with this ruling, with some appeals allowed, some dismissed, based on their individual facts.

Lesson Learnt

Reservation protections for persons with disabilities in government jobs extend to promotions, not merely initial recruitment, and government offices cannot rely on an old circular that has been superseded by binding Supreme Court rulings.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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