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Promotion on the basis of Educational Qualification not unconstitutional: Supreme Court
An appeal was filed in the Supreme Court against a judgment passed by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, where it was held that promotions based on higher education qualifications are violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Indian Constitution. The High Court stated that basing promotions upon higher education qualification cannot be a valid qualification given that all members working as Senior Assistants formed a homogeneous group. However, the appellants in the present case submitted that while a homogeneous group of Senior Assistants is constituted, reasonable classification of people for the purposes of promotions can be made.
The bench comprising of CJI SA Bobde, Justice V. Ramasubramanian, and Justice A.S. Bopanna, noted the submissions of the appellants and stated that making reasonable classification would not amount to a violation of Article 14 and 16. Backing their statement, the court made note of certain precedents set which dealt with similar issues. Citing the case State of Mysore & Anr. v. P Narasinga Rao (1968), the court highlighted that Articles 14 and 16 do not bar laying down of selective tests or prescribing certain qualification for a particular job. Further referring to the case T.R. Kothandaraman v. Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (1994), the court reiterated the legal position of such cases and stated that Qualifications based on higher education is a valid classification under the law and that restrictions with regard to promotion and scope of promotion can be placed on basis of educational qualification of a person. However, the court also reiterated that while such reasonable restrictions can be placed, they must not seriously jeopardize a person’s chance of promotion.
Therefore, the court allowed the appeal and set aside the judgment passed by the divisional bench of the High Court.
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