Srinagar, Apr 07: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Monday said that the implementation of reservation in departmental promotions for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe employees is currently on hold due to a pending case in the Supreme Court of India.
The statement was made in response to a question tabled by Rajeev Kumar Bhagat in the Legislative Assembly during the 2nd Session of 2025, where he asked whether the government intends to implement reservation in promotions for SC and ST employees, and if not, the reasons behind it.
In its reply, the government said that the issue of reservation in promotions in the Union Territory is governed by the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004, and the J&K Reservation Rules, 2005, both of which have been amended from time to time. As per Section 6 of the Act, certain posts in government services, especially those where the pay scale does not exceed that of a Deputy Secretary, are to be reserved for SCs, STs, and other socially and educationally backward classes. The total reservation in promotions, however, is capped at 31% of the available vacancies.
The government further said that the law allows for the exclusion of certain posts or services that require the highest levels of intelligence, skill, or excellence from the scope of reservation in promotions.
However, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court struck down Section 6 of the Reservation Act and certain related rules—specifically Rules 9, 10, and 34 of the J&K Reservation Rules, 2005—as being unconstitutional and in violation of Article 16(4) of the Constitution of India. As a result, the provision for reservation in promotions was rendered inoperative.
The matter was later taken up by the Supreme Court of India, which issued an order directing that the status quo be maintained which means that the provisions struck down by the High Court remain suspended until a final decision is made by the Supreme Court.
At present, the promotions for reserved category candidates are being managed under Circular No.10-JK(GAD) of 2021 dated 05.03.2021. As per the circular, if candidates from reserved categories are not immediately available for promotion, the vacancies meant for them are to be kept vacant and filled only when eligible candidates from these categories become available based on their seniority.
This approach, the government said, is intended to protect the interests of reserved category candidates and avoid mismanagement of the promotion roster by assigning two roster points to a single candidate.
