The Petition was filed by Dr. Siddaraju, a person with disability and a Non-KAS cadre officer. Vide U.O. Note dated 02.04.2014, Department of Personnel & Administrative Reforms, Government of Karnataka notified 6 posts for promotion for Non-KAS officers to the IAS, Karnataka Cadre without reserving 3% of the posts for persons with disability as per Section 32 and 33 of the Persons with Disabilities Act 1995. Dr. Siddaraju (‘Petitioner’), although fulfilling all the eligibility criteria of age and having good performance reviews was not recommended for promotion, which would not have been the case had atleast 1 post been reserved for persons with disability.
Central Administrative Tribunal and High Court of Karnataka
Aggrieved by this, the Petitioner herein filed Application bearing O.A. No. 1501/2014 before the Central Administrative Tribunal (‘CAT’). The Tribunal dismissed his Application holding that he had not challenged the Official Memorandum dated 29.12.2005 issued by the Central Government and also failed to appreciate the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Union of India & Another v. National Federation of Blind and others [2013] 10 SCC 772. Thereafter, the order of the CAT was challenged before the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka. However, the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka dismissed the Petition and upheld the order of the CAT.
Supreme Court of India
In this backdrop, a Special Leave Petition, SLP No. 14972/2016 and Civil Appeal No.1567/2017, was filed challenging the order of the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka which failed to direct reservation of 3% posts for persons with disabilities in the identified posts in Group A and B, to be filled up by promotion, as required as be the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Rajeev Kumar Gupta & Ors. v. Union of India and Ors.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court vide order dated 14-15.01.2020 upheld the three previous judgments, that is, Rajeev Kumar Gupta and Ors. v. Union of India (2016) 13 SCC 153, Union of India v. National Federation for the Blind and Ors. (2013) 10 SCC 772 and National Federation for the Blind v. Sanjay Kothari, Secy. Deptt. of Personnel and Training (2015) 9 Scale 611, which reiterated that the provision of reservation in promotions for persons with disabilities in promotions will bind the Union and the State Governments and must be strictly followed. The Hon’ble Supreme Court set aside the Order passed by the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka and the CAT.
Despite having an order in his favour, the Petitioner was not appointed to the IAS, Karnataka Cadre from the Non-SCS category. Therefore, a Contempt Petition, CC. 686/2020, has been filed for the willful disobedience of the Order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court dated 14-15.02.2020 and the same remains pending.
Application for Clarification by the Union
The Union Department of Personnel and Training filed and Miscellaneous Application in Civil Appeal 1567/2017 seeking clarification of the Order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court dated 14-15.01.2020. Clarifications were sought on the following points:
- Whether vacancies for promotion for PwDs would be computed only on the basis on the basis of the vacancies against the identified posts or against the vacancies in both identified and non-identified posts?
- Whether reservation can be given to PwDs at the time of induction from SCS/Non-SCS to IAS?
- Whether the intention of the judgment is to grant reservation in promotion beyond the lowest rung of Group-A or up to the lowest rung of Group-A?
- Whether the judgment dated 14.01.20200 in Civil Appeal No. 1567 f 2017 titled Siddaraju v. State of Karnataka & Ors. along with tagged cases needs to be implemented on the basis of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act `995, (based on which the case was filed) or the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 (the latest Act applicable on the date of judgment).
The Hon’ble Supreme Court vide order dated 28.09.2021 held that the there is no ambiguity in the 14-15.01.2020 judgment which warrants any clarification. Further, the Hon’ble Apex Court held that “The Union of India is directed to issue instructions regarding reservation in promotion as provided in Section 34 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 within a period of four months”.
This post was authored by Deepika, Litigation Associate, CLPR and Sarah, a recent graduate from St Joseph’s Law School, who is currently interning at CLPR.