ARGUMENTS IN COURT TODAY

WHAT THE COURT IS HEARING A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra is hearing a batch of petitions challenging a 2006 Supreme Court verdict, which had ruled against quotas in promotions for the creamy layer, and said employees from scheduled caste and scheduled tribes could only get guaranteed promotions if the government comes up with data to justify the quota

The court said this data should show the communities do not have adequate representation and must illustrate their backwardness

WHAT THE GOVT ARGUED Attorney General KK Venugopal told the bench since SCS and STS had suffered social inequalities for years, for the purpose of quotas in promotions, it should be presumed they are backward even now

When the bench asked why the Centre and states failed to collect “quantifiable data” to justify the reservation — despite the 2006 ruling — Venugopal responded saying it was practically impossible, “because it’s a dynamic process; people die, retire or are transferred and data keeps fluctuating”

THE OPPOSITION

Senior counsel Rajeev Dhavan, who represents petitioners opposing quota said backwardness was pre-requisite for Article16(4), which allows state to make reservations for backward classes inadequately represented in services. While this does not go away, “backwardness of any class has to be proved”

The next hearing is on August 16