Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala refers SC/ST promotion Bill to President

BENGALURU: The SC/ST promotion Bill has hit one more hurdle. Governor Vajubhai Vala has decided to send it for Presidential Reference.The Karnataka Extension of Consequential Seniority to Government Servants Promoted on the Basis of Reservation (to the post in Civil Services of the state) Bill, 2017,  was recently passed in the Belagavi session of the state legislature to provide reservation for SC/ST personnel in promotion.

It was introduced after the state government failed to get the Governor’s assent for the ordinance and to avoid demoting SC/ST employees who have already been promoted.State government, which has reiterated its commitment to protect the interest of SC/ST employees, was compelled to take the legislation route after the Supreme Court struck down reservation in promotions for SC/ST employees while hearing a petition filed by aggrieved employees in the state.

This Bill seeks to provide consequential seniority to persons promoted on the basis of policy of reservation in the state since 1978 to ensure adequate representation of SCs and STs across all departments.

The Bill would be sent to Rashtrapati Bhavan in accordance with the instructions of Governor Vajubhai Vala, said Law and Parliamentary Affairs minister T B Jayachandra.The  Governor, it is said, had reservations about constitutional validity of the Bill and hence has preferred to seek the advice of the President before deciding on giving assent for the Bill.

The development has pushed the state government into a piquant situation as the case will come up for hearing again before the Supreme Court on January 14, and there is a possibility of the government facing contempt of court proceedings if the Bill does not get Presidential approval by then.The government’s efforts to avoid the need to revert thousands of SC/ST employees promoted by it and give promotions to employees belonging to other categories has been hampered by a series of legal hurdles. The government would try to get Presidential assent at the earliest as the state government has to prepare the seniority list by January 14, Jayachandra said.