Reservation for the backward classes has impacted the course of Indian politics since the Mandal Commission’s implementation in the ‘90s. Adding another leaf to this discourse on September 26, 2018, a five-judge Constitution bench in the case of Jarnail Singh & Ors versus Lachmi Narani Gupta & Ors has set down some principles in reservation in promotion in public employment with far-reaching consequences. The issue before the bench in this case was the correctness of the decision in M. Nagaraj v. Union of India pertaining to the three-point test for grant of reservation under Article 16 4-A.
The matter of promotion in reservation revolves around four Articles of the Constitution of India: 1) Article 16 for equality of opportunity in matters of public employment, 2) Article 335 for claims of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to services and posts while maintaining administrative efficiency, 3) Article 341 for identification of Scheduled Castes and 4) Article 342 for…