CEIRA Act: Sapling of Bitter Fruits of Caste Based Reservations: Part 5

Section 3

Bare Act Provision

3. Reservation of seats in Central Educational Institutions.—

The reservation of seats in admission and its extent in a Central Educational Institution shall be provided in the following manner, namely:—

(i) out of the annual permitted strength in each branch of study or faculty, fifteen per cent. seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes;

(ii) out of the annual permitted strength in each branch of study or faculty, seven and one-half per cent. seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Tribes;

(iii) out of the annual permitted strength in each branch of study or faculty, twenty-seven per cent. seats shall be reserved for the Other Backward Classes;1

[Provided that the State seats, if any, in a Central Educational Institution situated in the tribal areas referred to in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution shall be governed by such reservation policy for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes, as may be specified, by notification in the Official Gazette, by the Government of the State where such institution is situated:

Provided further that if there are no State seats in a Central Educational Institution and the seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes exceed the percentage specified under clause (i) or the seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes exceed the percentage specified under clause (ii) or the seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes taken together exceed the sum of percentages specified under clauses (i) and (ii), but such seats are—

(a) less than fifty per cent. of the annual permitted strength on the date immediately preceding the date of commencement of this Act, the total percentage of the seats required to be reserved for the Other Backward Classes under clause (iii) shall be restricted to the extent such sum of percentages specified under clauses (i) and (ii) falls short of fifty percent.of the annual permitted strength;

(b) more than fifty per cent. of the annual permitted strength on the date of immediately preceding the date of commencement of this Act, in that case no seats shall be reserved for the Other Backward Classes under clause (iii) but the extent of the reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes shall not be reduced in respect of Central Educational Institutions in the specified north-eastern region.].

Footnote of Bare Act

1. Ins. by s.3, Act 31 of 2012 (w.e.f. 19-6-2012).

Explanation

Reservation is one of the many tools that are used to preserve and promote the essence of equality, so that disadvantaged groups can be brought to the forefront of civil life. [1] Section 3 of Act 5 of 2007 provides for reservation of 15% seats for Scheduled Castes, 7.5% seats for Scheduled Tribes and 27% for Other Backward Classes in Central Educational Institutions.

Section 3 has lack of periodic review mechanism, which will cause increasing reservations resulting in reverse discrimination[2] and destruction of merit. In the Constitution for the purposes of both Articles 15 and 16, caste is not synonymous with class and this is clear from paras – 782 and 783 of Indra Sawhney case. However, when creamy layer is excluded from the caste, the same becomes an identifiable class for the purpose of Articles 15 and 16. [2]

Irrespective of the formula for ascertaining the percentage of reservation for the OBCs as provided under the Second Proviso to Section 3 of the Act after the amendment in 2012, the Institute has to apply Clauses (i) and (ii) of Section 3 of the Act to fix the percentage of reservation for the SCs and STs. The Court clarified that while the first proviso of Section 3 relates to Sixth Schedule areas, the second proviso specifically applies to institutions in the “Specified north-eastern region” that do not have “State seats.” [3]

Second Proviso was specifically inserted for the Central Educational Institutions located in the specified North Eastern Region for protecting the interest of STs, particularly as evident from the Clause (b) of the Second Proviso. It protects the interest of the STs wherever, their percentage of reservation is more than what is prescribed under Clause (ii) of Section 3 of the Act. The Act specifically provides that even if the extent of reservation of seats of the STs & SCs exceed 50% of the annual permitted strength on the date immediately preceding the date of commencement of the Act, there shall not be reservation for the OBCs under Clause (3) but, the extent of reservation of seats for STs & SCs shall not be reduced. [3] The general norms in Section 3 are not absolute. They must be “restricted in terms of the said provisos” added in 2012.

The specific mathematical formula provided in the second proviso of Section 3, which required OBC seats to be “restricted” to whatever remains of the 50% cap after SC and ST seats are filled. If a Central Educational Institution (CEI) is in the “Specified north-eastern region” and had historical reservation levels for SC/ST that exceeded the national 22.5% total, the second proviso to Section 3 overrides the general clauses to protect those higher local ST percentages while reducing OBC seats accordingly. [3]

As this section was amended in 2012, in regard to the applicability of the amendments of CEIRA Act, the Court interpreted the “commencement of the Act” to mean the original 2006 Act. Therefore, the reservation percentages must be based on what was prevalent just before the 2006 Act. The Court held that the 2012 Amendment was specifically designed to solve the “inability to meet the aspirations” of ST candidates in the North East. [3]

Reference

[1] Ashoka Kumar Thakur vs Union Of India And Ors [(2007) 2 SCT 655]
[2] Tandan Kumar & Ors. vs Universityof Delhi & Anr., Delhi High Court W.P.(C) 5329/2008
[3] Kshetrimayum Maheshkumar Singh vs The Manipur University [(2022) 2 SCC 704]