In Brief
The Supreme Court dismissed writ petitions seeking mandamus to compel the State of Uttar Pradesh to collect quantifiable data for granting reservation in promotion to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under Articles 16(4-A) and 16(4-B). The Court held that these Articles are enabling provisions—granting the State discretion, not imposing mandatory duty—to provide such reservation only after satisfying conditions of backwardness, inadequacy of representation, and administrative efficiency. The Court ruled that mandamus cannot be issued to command collection of data as a prerequisite to framing reservation rules, as this would constitute impermissible judicial legislation. While courts may test validity of enacted reservation provisions, they cannot direct the executive to collect data or frame legislation through mandamus.
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