Seventy-Seventh Amendment Act, 1995

• Provided for reservation in promotions in government jobs for SCs and STs. This amendment nullified the Supreme Court ruling with regard to reservation in promotions.

Background

• In order to nullify the ruling with regard to reservation in promotions, the 77th Amendment Act was enacted in 1995. It added a new provision in Article 16 that empowers the State to provide for reservation in promotions of any services under the State in favour of the SCs and STs that are not adequately represented in the state services.
• Again, the 85th Amendment Act of 2001 provides for ‘consequential seniority’ in the case of promotion by virtue of rule of reservation for the government servants belonging to the SCs and STs with retrospective effect from June 1995.