SC UPHOLDS RULE OF ACCELERATED PROMOTION QUOTA

SC UPHOLDS RULE OF ACCELERATED PROMOTION QUOTA

BY- SNEHA CHAUHAN

SC UPHOLDS RULE OF ACCELERATED PROMOTION QUOTA


BACKGROUND




Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) is an engineering entrance examination held for the admission to various engineering colleges in India. It is done by two different examinations - JEE Main and the JEE Advanced. The exams are of the objective pattern. JEE Advanced is considered internationally as one of the most challenging undergraduate admission tests.




CURRENT ISSUE




The Supreme Court has sustained a service Rule of granting Accelerated Promotion Quota on the basis of higher educational qualifications. The court was agitated with the promotion quota applicable to the Irrigation Department cadre of the Uttarakhand State and also for the promotion of the post of Assistant Engineer from the post of Junior Engineer. It develops out a provision for accelerated promotion to the level of 7.33%, of a Degree in Civil Engineering that is the JEE’s a more advanced qualification in the following field.

JEE’s holding (petitioner) filed a writ petition on the qualification of Diploma, but the Uttarakhand High Court canceled the accelerated promotion quota which I was provided in Uttaranchal Service of Engineers of Irrigation Department from Group ‘B’ Rules, 2003 as it violates the Articles 14 & 16 of the Constitution. As said in the following case ‘State of Uttarakhand Vs SK Singh’. But a few more statements were said such as:

“On the appreciation of the aforesaid pleas, we do find that there are inconsistencies in the different principles set forth. On a query posed to the learned senior counsel for the private respondents, it was conceded on the basis of various judicial pronouncements that the appellant would be well within its right to provide a higher qualification for a promotion post. Thus, it could be very well said that both, for promotion and for direct appointment to AEs, Degree could be the essential qualification It may also be noticed that the Rulemaking power, under the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution has been emphasized as legislative in nature and thus, the test to determine the constitutionality of any provision of such Rule is whether the legislature was competent to such a provision.” 


Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice MR Shah noticed that taking along forth from the direct recruitment quota for which the Degree is the qualification of the promotion quota and to give that through accelerated promotion to persons who have a degree can practically be said to have any peculiar defects which can  violate  Articles 14 & 16 of the Constitution.






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CONCLUSION




Following are the observations made by the court:

1. The spectrum of judicial opinions referred to aforesaid leaves us with little doubt that though equality is the very bulwark of the provisions of the Constitution, in service jurisprudence, classifications are a matter of necessity and judicial pronouncements have sought to balance the equality principle with the principle of classification, dependant on the nexus for making the classification.

2.  Higher educational qualifications have been repeatedly emphasized as an aspect that can give exclusive promotion, earlier promotion or for that matter, as in this case, an accelerated promotion.

3. A higher degree of qualification intrinsically would bring in certain skills, though undoubtedly, that should be useful and have a nexus with the job being performed. As to who should examine this nexus, that has been left to the wisdom of the administrative authorities, who are best equipped to do so. 


Therefore, all are well aware of the fact that in another post much higher than AE, there is no division between people having different qualifications. There’s nothing such as direct appointments, vacancies and posts are jammed only through promotions. All that has been done is that, at a particular time period of promotion stage in the cooperation of the administration which will recognize higher skills developed through higher qualifications and as an impetus to others and make them achieve these higher and well qualifications, the Rule for Accelerated Promotion Quota is allowed on a small percentage of posts.

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