Supreme Court of India · 1961-04-28
THE GENERAL MANAGER, SOUTHERN RAILWAY vs RANGACHARI
- Citation / case number
- SC 1960/195
- Court
- Supreme Court of India
- Petitioner
- THE GENERAL MANAGER, SOUTHERN RAILWAY
- Respondent
- RANGACHARI
- Bench
- GAJENDRAGADKAR, P.B.,SARKAR, A.K.,WANCHOO, K.N.,GUPTA, K.C. DAS,AYYANGAR, N. RAJAGOPALA
Judgment text excerpt
The Supreme Court held that the circulars issued by the Railway Board reserving selection posts for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were valid under Article 16(4) of the Constitution. The Court clarified that 'appointments' in Article 16(4) includes promotions and that the term 'posts' encompasses selection posts within the services. The High Court's ruling that these circulars were ultra vires was overturned, affirming the State's power to reserve appointments for backward classes, including Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.