The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court to-day [New Delhi, February 23] set aside the promotions of more than 200 school teachers in Jammu and Kashmir State, holding that they were made in pursuance of the State Government’s communal policy. The promotions were challenged by Mr. Makhan Lal Waza and nine other teachers of the Jammu and Kashmir Education Department through a writ petition. They alleged that the Government’s policy of promoting teachers to higher posts and higher grades was not based on merit and seniority but purely on grounds of religion, caste and place of birth. The petitioners stated that they were qualified and senior but other teachers had been unduly promoted over them in pursuance of the communal policy. In allowing the petition, the Court held the promotions to be illegal and unconstitutional, being violative of Article 16 of the Constitution. It directed the State Government to revise and reconsider them. (Article 16 guarantees equality of opportunity in public employment). The matter was heard by the Chief Justice, Mr. S.M. Sikri, Mr. Justice G.K. Mitter, Mr. Justice K.S. Hegde, Mr. Justice A.N. Grover, and Mr. Justice Jaganmohan Reddy. Mr. Justice Grover, who delivered the judgment, said the State Government had acted in complete defiance of the law on the point laid down by the Supreme Court in the Trilokinath case.
