Supreme Court Judgment on Reservations

The Supreme Court is again at the centre of a storm of public scrutiny, thanks to a recent judgment on reservations. In Mukesh Kumar v State of Uttarakhand (2020), the Court controversially observed, “There is no fundamental right which inheres in an individual to claim reservations in promotions.” This sparked off a controversy that has reached Parliament, with calls being made to overturn the judgment through a constitutional amendment. This is probably an overreaction as, when seen in context, the Court is really only stating a well-established principle of law—that courts cannot direct governments to reserve a certain percentage of seats for specific communities. This becomes obvious when we see the statement in context:

In view of the law laid down by this Court, there is no doubt that the state government is not bound to make reservations. There is no fundamental right which inheres in an individual to claim reservations in promotions. No mandamus can be issued by the Court directing the state government to provide reservations.