On SCs/STs Job Quota, Centre Asks Top Court To "Lay Down Definite Ground"
NDTV
Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre said that SC/STs have been sidelined from the mainstream for years.
The Centre Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to lay down a definite and decisive ground for the Union of India and the states to implement reservation in promotions to the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in government jobs.
Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, told a bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao that SC/STs have been sidelined from the mainstream for years and "we have to bring an equaliser (in form of reservation) in the interest of the country to give them an equal chance".
"If you don't lay down a definite decisive ground that the states and union will follow, there'll be a multitude of litigations. There will never be an end to this issue as to what is the principle on which reservation has to be made...
"We can't fill the seats unless merit is the criteria but there is a class that has been sidelined from the mainstream for centuries. In which case, in the interest of the country and in the interest of the constitution, we have to bring an equaliser, and that in my view is proportional representation. That gives the right to equality," Venugopal told the bench also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai which reserved its verdict on the issue.
