PATNA / AGARTALA, May 4 (TIWN): The Patna High Court on Monday quashed Bihar's decision to provide reservation in promotions to the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) government employees.After hearing a petition by Sushil Kumar Singh and two others challenging the decision, a division bench of the court ordered the 2012 policy be scrapped.The court's order is a setback for hundreds of SC/ST officials.Tripura High Court on April 9 in a landmark judgement on reservation in Tripura govt promotions comprising Chief justice Deepak Kumar Gupta and Justices U.B.Saha and Swapan Chandra Das have applied brakes to uncontrolled promotions of SC/ST candidates to higher posts which is usually meant for general categories.Most important part of April 9's judgement is High Court delcared in clear terms that promotions in Govt services should be based on merit and not on the basis of SC/ST criteria.On April 9, After hearing bunch of petitions by general candidates, Tripura High Court delivered a 78 page comprehensive judgment laying down general principles for promotion in the reserved category .

Tripura High Court Justices led by Chief Justice Deepak Gupta quoted Supreme Court Judgements of SC/ST promotion policy.

Earlier in Janaury 2014,The Supreme Court has ruled that there could be no quota for SC and ST employees for top posts in public sector banks but reservation for them was permissible in posts from scale-I till scale-VI.

A bench of J.Chelameswar and A.K.Sikri held that though there was no provision for reservation in promotion in banks for officers from scale-I onwards but an office memorandum issued by Department of Public Enterprises in November 2004 permitting quota up to scale-VI.

The bench informed that “the policy of no reservation in the matter of promotion is applicable only from Scale-VII and above. It, therefore, clearly follows that in so far as promotion from Scale-I to Scale-II, Scale-II to Scale-III, Scale-III to Scale-IV, Scale-IV to Scale-V, Scale-V to Scale-VI are concerned, reservation is to provided”. The bench said: “It is clarified that at present there is no provision for reservation in promotion by selection only in respect of those posts which carry an ultimate of 5,700/- per month (revised to 18,300 and 20,800/- per month in respect of those public sector undertakings following IDA pattern). Qua (with regard to) appellant Banks, that would be in respect of Scale-VII and above. Therefore, to carry out promotions from Scale-I upwards upto Scale-VI, reservation in promotion in favour of SC/ST employees has to be given.”