For the first time in the history of the country, the Supreme Court has introduced a reservation policy for the candidates belonging to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) category in direct recruitment and promotions across its administrative posts.
As per a circular issued by the Apex Court on June 24, the Model Reservation Roster and Register, titled Res. Roster/01/2025, outlined a 200-point reservation framework in compliance with Rule 4A of the Supreme Court Officers and Servants (Conditions of Service and Conduct) Rules, 1961 and the DoPT’s guidelines issued in 1997.
The policy, which came into effect on June 23, 2025, allocated 15 percent reservation for Scheduled Castes and 7.5 percent for Scheduled Tribes, marking a total of 30 SC and 15 ST earmarked positions within every 200 sanctioned posts.
As per the 167-page document, for each post, a detailed point-based breakdown would set out the exact serial number where an SC or ST vacancy arose, calculated against the sanctioned cadre strength.
Reservation would be provided for multiple administrative posts in the court, including Senior Personal Assistant (94 sanctioned posts: 14 SC, 6 ST, 74 UR); Assistant Librarian (20 posts: 3 SC, 1 ST); Junior Court Assistant (437 posts: 65 SC, 32 ST, 340 UR); Junior Court Assistant-cum-Junior Programmer (20 posts: 3 SC, 1 ST); Junior Court Attendant (600 posts: reservation distributed over more than 200 serialised entries); and Chamber Attendant (105 posts; SC 16, 8 ST, 85 UR).
Each roster would strictly follow a fractional entitlement to ensure compliance. For example, in the Junior Court Assistant cadre, the 7th, 15th, 20th, 27th, and so on posts have been earmarked for SC candidates, while ST vacancies appear on the 14th, 28th, 40th points and so forth. Each designation’s roster has been uniquely structured to reflect its specific cadre size.
Alongside rosters, Part II of the document included Initial Reservation Registers for each post. These are tabulated appointment logs capturing the reservation status of each filled post, enabling tracking of real-time compliance. These registers function as live documents to be updated upon each recruitment cycle.
The June 24 circular has been circulated among all Supreme Court employees and registrars, directing the staff to access the uploaded roster and register on Supnet, the court’s internal network.
Any objections relating to inaccuracies must be routed to the Registrar (Recruitment), providing a formal channel for redress, it said.
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