January 14, 2002
‘7’
PRESIDENT’S ASSENT TO CONSTITUTION (NINETY-SECOND AMENDMENT) BILL
The President has given his assent to the Constitution (Ninety-second Amendment) Bill, 2001. With this, the Bill, passed during the Winter Session of Parliament ending December 19, 2001, has been notified in the Gazette of India as the Constitution (Eighty-fifth Amendment) Act 2002.
The Constitution (Eighty-fifth Amendment) Act, 2002, seeks to amend Article 16 (4A) of the Constitution of India to provide for consequential seniority in promotion of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Government service by virtue of rule of reservation. The amendment to Article 16 (4A) has been given retrospective effect from June 17, 1995. This protects the interest of the Government servants belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. To this effect, an Office Memorandum (OM) of January 30, 1997 has been negated and withdrawn, as it had been issued to give effect to the Supreme Court judgement in Virpal Singh Chauhan and Ajit Singh of 1995, which stipulated reservation at the entry point in service only and not in promotion. This, however, affected adversely the interests of Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes in Government services, which the Constitution (Eight-fifth Amendment) Act, 2002 has superseded and status quo as in 1997 and earlier restored.