Jaipur, October 13
In a major jolt to Gujjar community on Diwali eve, the Rajasthan High Court has stayed the 5 per cent quota provided to the Gujjars and 14 per cent to the Economically Backward Classes (EBCs) as it breached the 50 per cent reservation cap set by the SC.
A division bench of Chief Justice Jagdish Bhalla and Justice MN Bhandari stayed the reservation given by the state government to these communities. The order was passed on a letter petition filed by some students of University of Rajasthan. The division bench observed in its order said, “We have examined the letter in the light of the Supreme Court order and find that the reservation granted by the state government to Gujjar community and the EBCs is not in consonance to the settled legal provisions and hence the excess reservation is stayed.”
The move has come as a major setback to the reservation campaign for the Gujjars being spearheaded by Kirori Singh Bainsla. Reacting to the HC stay on quota, Bainsla said he would not like to comment on the court order, but would discuss the matter with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. He demanded that the state government should freeze all recruitments with immediate effect till the time the road is cleared for the Gujjar quota. He said since the state government had provided the quota to the Gujjars, it was the government’s moral responsibility to defend its move in the court and clear the way to ensure that the quota is implemented in letter and spirit.
Rajasthan has witnessed various violent Gujjar agitations over the reservation issue in the past and just when it seemed the dust has settled down over it the HC order has revived the issue. It’s not very long since the Gujjar quota came into being in the state. Governor SK Singh had given his assent to the quota Bill on July 30. The Bill provided for 5 per cent quota to the Gujjars and 14 per cent to the EBCs, which took the total reservation percentage in the state to 68 per cent. The state already had 21 per cent quota for OBCs, 16 per cent for SCs and 12 per cent for
STs.
