Govt to file review petition against SC order on faculty appointments

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 7: The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is planning to file a review petition in the Supreme Court against its January 22 order on faculty quota in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The apex court, on January 22, upheld the Allahabad High Court order and ruled that that reservation in university faculty positions should be calculated department-wise, instead of taking the whole university as a unit.

There was a general feeling of under representation or decline of representation of the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) as a result of the Supreme Court order. Therefore, academics demanded the Central Government to step in and file a review petition in the Court.

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar has announced that the Government will be filing a review petition with the Supreme Court.

Javadekar while speaking to reporters said, “We will file a review petition soon and we will put our point strongly. We are confident there will be justice and reservation will continue as per the earlier system. The government will ensure that reservation for SC/ST/OBC is not hampered.”

He added that earlier, universities were treated as a unit for reservation which was the right thing and the SC/ST/OBC were treated in a just manner.

Javadekar further added that MHRD will defend its stand well. He said, “we believe we will get justice and reservation will be done based on the 200-point roster.”