Lucknow: In a historic judgment, the Allahabad High Court has held the reservation of jobs on caste basis in science and technology as ultra vires of the Constitution. Delivering the judgment on June 22, Justice Markanday Katju of the Allahabad High Court said that a line had to be drawn somewhere to the policy of caste based reservation “and I draw the line at science.”
Justice Katju said that “science has no caste or religion and, in my opinion, therefore, there can be no valid reservations in the field of science and technology”.
The judgment assumes significance in view of the judicial review of the Mandal Commission report on reservation of jobs for socially and educationally backward caste by the Supreme Court which is examining the executive order of the V.P. Singh govt. on the subject.
The Allahabad High Court judgment came following a writ petition field by Naresh Chand against the District Inspector of Schools, Ghaziabad, and others challenging the order of the Inspector cancelling the appointment of lecturer in chemistry because the post was reserved for a Scheduled Caste whereas the petitioner belonged to Backward Caste.
While quashing the order of the Inspector of Schools, Justice Katju observed that “all caste based reservations in the scientific field are arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India”.
Merit theory: The case in brief was that on retirement of a lecturer in chemistry in Sarswati College, Hapur, Ghaziabad, the managing committee appointed the petitioner as lecturer in the same department against the vacancy. However, the petitioner’s appointment was cancelled by the Inspector of Schools on the ground that the vacant post was reserved for Scheduled Caste candidate. The High Court has quashed the order of the Inspector of Schools. Justice Katju in his judgment has made some interesting and important observations. The judge said that, “the policy of reservations as contemplated by Article 16(4) and Article 15(4) of the Constitution of India is basically a compromise between the need for excellence on the one hand and the need for making special provision for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes or Scheduled Castes/Tribes on the other hand.”
Worst patches: “However, in my opinion the time has now come when it must be boldly and clearly said that there can be no compromise in the field of science and technology”, the judge said. The judge held that, “even the admissions in educational institutions including medical and engineering colleges or appointments in the scientific fields are arb
literary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India”.
Justice Katju observed: “Today our country is passing through one of its worst patches in our six thousand year old known history. Unless we now adopt the scientific path outlook foreign nations will totally dominate us and rein us. Science, therefore, is the only means of solving country’s problems.
When our country was on the scientific path it ” prospered. With the aid of science we had built mighty civilizations thousands of years ago when most people in Europe except Greece and Rome were living in forests”. We had made outstanding scientific discoveries, the decimal system in mathematics, plastic surgery in medicine etc. (Statesman June 24).
