HC stay on quota for Jats in Haryana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 26

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today put on hold the Haryana Government’s move to provide reservation to the Jats and five other communities.

Less than 10 days after the constitutional validity of the Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Act was brought under the judicial scanner, a Division Bench of the High Court stayed the operation of block ‘C’ of the Act.

The Act provides for reservation for the Jats and five other communities under a newly carved backward class (C) category. These communities, including Jat Sikhs, Muslim Jats, Bishnois, Rors and Tyagis, were entitled to 10 per cent reservation in government services and admission in educational institutions.

The interim order was passed by a Bench of Justices SS Saron and Gurmit Ram. It also fixed July 21 as the next date of hearing, when the issue of continuing the stay would be heard.

Bhiwani resident Murari Lal Gupta had sought directions to quash reservation to the Jat community, contending that it was provided on the basis of the Justice KC Gupta Commission report, which had already been rejected by the Supreme Court.

The petitioner’s counsel, Mukesh Verma, stated that reservation on the basis of the Justice Gupta report would be tantamount to revision of a judicial order, which could not be done by the legislature. He asserted that only the judiciary could revise the findings of an issue already decided in a judicial order.

He submitted that in 2014 too the state government had introduced a Bill to include Jats in the list of other backward classes for reservation in job and educational institutes. But the Supreme Court held that Jats were not backward socially, educationally and politically.