Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Hearing a batch of petitions challenging the state’s new promotion policy, the High Court, principal bench of Jabalpur, on Tuesday expressed displeasure at the quantifiable and employee data the government submitted in a sealed envelope, which revealed that in a particular department, all the posts were occupied by the reserved categories.
A division bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf noted that some departments already have a large number of employees from the reserved categories.
The court then directed the state government to submit a unified chart of all departments, showing the current representation of reserved categories in each department. It also stated that this exercise should not merely be a collection of data, but a calculation based on correct rules.
Senior advocate C.S. Vaidyanathan presented the government's case via video conferencing, while Advocate General Prashant Singh appeared in court.
Speaking about the developments, Naresh Kaushik, the advocate of the petitioner, the Samanya PichhdaAlpasankhyak Kalyan Samaj Sanstha (SAPAKS), said, “The HC has directed the state government to re-prepare a unified chart of all departments and present it to the court, showing the current representation of reserved categories in each department.
The government has submitted data in a sealed envelope; however, the HC observed that the reserved categories were occupying all the posts in a particular department, and there was no mention of the general category. Wondering how the government will justify that, the court asked it to re-prepare the report.”
The next hearing on the matter is scheduled for November 12.
