Read Understand the Constitution (117th Amendment) Bill, 2012 Upper House Rajya Sabha Passed 117th amendment

Read Understand the Constitution (117th Amendment) Bill, 2012 Upper House Rajya Sabha Passed 117th amendment


The Upper House passed the contentious Constitution (117th Amendment) Bill, 2012, with an overwhelming vote of 206 in favor in the 245-member House.

The Constitution (117th Amendment) Bill was passed with 194 in favour and 10 against it in the 245-member House.


Those who voted against the Bill were nine SP members and Mohammed Adeeb, an independent, among the 216 present.

This ensured the two-thirds majority that was required for a Constitution amendment Bill.

BJP supported the Bill amendment 117th  

Now Read the text of the bill
Constitution 117th Amendment

Bill No. XLVIII of 2012

THE CONSTITUTION (ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH AMENDMENT) BILL, 2012

BE it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-third Year of the Republic of India as
follows:—

1. (1) This Act may be called the Constitution (One Hundred  Seventeenth Amendment)
Act, 2012.

(2) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 17th day of June, 1995.

2. In the Constitution, in Part III, in article 16, for clause (4A), the following clause
shall be substituted, namely:––

“(4A) Notwithstanding anything contained elsewhere in the Constitution, the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes notified under article 341 and article 342,
respectively, shall be deemed to be backward and nothing in this article or in article
335 shall prevent the State from making any provision for reservation in matters of
promotions, with consequential seniority, to any class or classes of posts in the
services under the State in favour of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes
to the extent of the percentage of reservation provided to the Scheduled Castes and
the Scheduled Tribes in the services of the State.”.

STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS

The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes have been provided reservation in
promotions since 1955.

This was discontinued following the judgment in the case of Indra
Sawhney Vs. Union of India, wherein it was held that it is beyond the mandate of Article 16(4)
of the Constitution of India.

Subsequently, the Constitution was amended by the Constitution (Seventy-seventh Amendment) Act, 1995 and a new clause (4A) was inserted in article 16 to enable the Government to provide reservation in promotion in favour of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. Subsequently, clause (4A) of article 16 was modified by the Constitution (Eighty-fifth Amendment) Act, 2001 to provide consequential seniority to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes candidates promoted by giving reservation.

The validity of the constitutional amendments was challenged before the Supreme
Court.

The Supreme Court while deliberating on the issue of validity of Constitutional
amendments in the case of M. Nagaraj Vs. UOI & Ors., observed that the concerned State
will have to show in each case the existence of the compelling reasons, namely, backwardness,
inadequacy of representation and overall administrative efficiency before making provision
for reservation in promotion.

Relying on the judgment of the Supreme Court in M. Nagaraj case, the High Court of
Rajasthan and the High Court of Allahabad have struck down the provisions for reservation
in promotion in the services of the State of Rajasthan and the State of Uttar Pradesh,
respectively.

Subsequently, the Supreme Court has upheld the decisions of these High
Courts striking down provisions for reservation in respective States.

It has been observed that there is difficulty in collection of quantifiable data showing
backwardness of the class and inadequacy of representation of that class in public
employment.

Moreover, there is uncertainty on the methodology of this exercise.
Thus, in the wake of the judgment of the Supreme Court in M. Nagaraj case, the
prospects of promotion of the employees belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes are being adversely affected.

Demands for carrying out further amendment in the Constitution were raised by
various quarters.

A discussion on the issue of reservation in promotion was held in Parliament
on 3-5-2012.

Demand for amendment of the Constitution in order to provide reservation for
the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in promotion has been voiced by the
Members of Parliament.

An All-Party Meeting to discuss the issue was held on 21-08-2012.
There was a general consensus to carry out amendment in the Constitution, so as to enable
the State to continue the scheme of reservation in promotion for the Scheduled Castes and
the Scheduled Tribes as it existed since 1995.

In view of the above, the Government has reviewed the position and has decided to
move the constitutional amendment to substitute clause (4A) of article 16, with a view to
provide impediment-free reservation in promotion to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled
Tribes and to bring certainty and clarity in the matter.

 It is also necessary to give retrospective effect to the proposed clause (4A) of article 16 with effect from the date of coming into force of that clause as originally introduced, that is, from the 17th day of June, 1995

EXTRACT FROM THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

16. (1)
(4A) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for
reservation in matters of promotion, with consequential seniority, to any class or classes of
posts in the services under the State in favour of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled
Tribes, which, in the opinion of the State, are not adequately represented in the services
under the State.

------------------------------------ End of Bill Text --------------------------------------

The above amendment seeks to provide reservations for scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs) in government office promotions.

Reservation in promotion is not required as both everyone in government office gets same salary as per his grade.

Already there is reservation in schools, college and  government jobs.


In 1992, the Supreme Court in the case of Indira Sawhney  v Union of India had held reservations in promotions to be unconstitutional.

in 1995, the central government had amended the Constitution and inserted
Article 16(4A).

This provided for reservation in promotions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

In 2006, the Supreme Court in the case of M. Nagraj v Union of India upheld the constitutional validity of the amendment.

While upholding the validity of the amendment,  the court held that before framing any law on
this issue,
the state will have to satisfy the test of;

(a) backwardness of the particular SC and ST group

(b) inadequate representation of the said group

(c) efficiency of administration

In April 2012, the Supreme Court struck down the UP Government Seniority Rules, which provided for reservations in promotions. 

After this  politicians decided to amend article 16[4] as they realized that it is very difficult to fulfill the three test given by the Supreme Court of India.

Thus, Congress Government and Politicians introduced the new amendment bill in upper house, which was passed by them.

The new  bill provides that all the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes notified in the Constitutional shall be deemed to be backward.

Article 335 of the Constitution states that the claims of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have to be balanced with maintaining efficiency in administration.

The Bill states that provision of the amendment shall override the provision of Article 355.

Upper House has passed the bill and now bill will go to  lower house.

The bill is likely to be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday


Support Economic Reservation Only

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Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Tags – Constitution 117th Amendment Reservation