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EE Cadre               19.9%


SE Cadre               23.95%


CE Cadre               4.3% (being a selection post)


Engineer-in-chief      44.44%

5. Thus, according to the appellants, SC/ST candidates got promotion early and on account of consequential seniority, percentage of SC/ST candidates was much higher than the permitted percentage and all top positions were likely to be filled up by SC/ST candidates without general merit candidates getting to higher positions. This aspect was considered in the judgment of this Court dated 1st December, 2000 in M.G. Badappanavar v. State of Karnataka[4]. This Court applying the principles laid down in Ajit Singh Januja v. State of Punjab (Ajit Singh I)[5]; Ajit Singh (II) v. State of Punjab[6] and R.K. Sabharwal v. State of Punjab[7] issued a direction to the State of Karnataka to redo the seniority and take further action in the light of the said judgments. Pointing out the consequence of accelerated seniority to the roster point promotee, it has been averred in the writ petition that the roster point promotee would reach the third level by the age of 45 and fourth, fifth and sixth level in next three, two and two years. The general merit promotee would reach the third level only at the age of 56 and retire before reaching the fourth level. This would result in reverse discrimination and representation of reserved category would range between 36% to 100%.

12. Shri S.N. Bhat, learned counsel for the private respondents supported the impugned judgment and submitted that the Government was not required to carry out the exercise of finding out ‘backwardness’, ‘inadequacy of representation’ and ‘overall administrative efficiency’ for providing consequential seniority to officers on the basis of reservation. The said exercise was required to be carried out only for providing reservation in promotion. Reservation in promotion was permissible only upto Class I posts in Karnataka. Moreover, inter se seniority of reserved category and general category candidates promoted together was not disturbed. The roster points ensured that there was no excessive representation in different cadres of service. In view of Government Order dated 3rd February, 1999 there was enough data available to justify continuance of provision for consequential seniority under the impugned Act. Data collected by the Department of Statistics with regard to overall representation of SCs and STs as on 31st March, 2002 showed that the representation of SCs and STs was not above 15% and 3% respectively. Section 4 of the Act only protected consequential seniority which was already given. Promotions already effected cannot be disturbed.

(i) The number of vacancies available in the promotional (higher) cadre for each of the lower cadres according to the rules of recruitment applicable to it shall be calculated; and
(ii) The roster shall be applied separately to the number of vacancies so calculated in respect of each of those lower cadres;

Provided also that the serial numbers of the roster points specified in the Reservation Order are intended only to facilitate calculation of the number of vacancies reserved for promotion at a time and such roster points are not intended to determine inter-se seniority of the Government Servants belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes vis-a-vis the Government Servants belonging to the unreserved category promoted at the same time and such inter-se seniority shall be determined by their seniority inter-se in the cadre from which they are promoted, as illustrated in the Schedule appended to this Act.

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36. In the absence of any provision for consequential seniority in the rules, the “catch-up rule” will be applicable and the roster-point reserved category promotees cannot count their seniority in the promoted category from the date of their promotion and the senior general candidates if later reach the promotional level, general candidates will regain their seniority. The Division Bench appears to have proceeded on an erroneous footing that Article 16(4-A) of the Constitution of India automatically gives the consequential seniority in addition to accelerated promotion to the roster-point promotees and the judgment of the Division Bench cannot be sustained.”