BABURAM vs C.C. JACOB .

The Supreme Court upheld the Central Administrative Tribunal's order that the principle of reservation for Scheduled Castes must be applied to the cadre strength rather than to individual vacancies, as established in R K Sabharwal & Ors. v. State of Punjab & Ors. (1995 2 SCC 745). The Court clarified that the tribunal correctly interpreted the law, which was not clear prior to the Sabharwal judgment, and thus the prospective application of that judgment did not preclude its use in this case. The appeals were dismissed, affirming the tribunal's directive to recalculate promotions based on cadre strength.