New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India, in its judgment, has reiterated that reservations in promotion relating to public posts cannot be claimed as a fundamental right.

On Friday, February 7, the bench comprising Justice L Nageswara Rao and Justice Hemant Gupta pronounced that not only did the state governments not have any right to make decisions on the reservations but also that the courts could not issue a mandamus directing the states to provide one.

The Apex Court, referring to Article 16 (4) and Article 16 (4-A) of the Indian Constitution, said that none of the individuals had a right to claim that reservation is a fundamental right.

The court said that the states were empowered to make reservations in favour of appointment and promotion of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The verdict also said that if the state wished to take decisions on making reservations in promotions, then it had to make sure that it has enough data to show that there is an inadequacy of representation of a class or a community in public services.