High Court stays quota for Jats, five other communities

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday stayed the reservation for Jats and five other communities provided by the Haryana government under a newly carved Backward Classes (C) category. 

The court passed the order while hearing a petition, challenging the constitutional validity of The Haryana Backward Classes (reservation in services and admission in educational institutions) Act 2016 that was passed unanimously by the Assembly on March 29. The interim order was passed by a Bench, headed by Justice SS Saron.

The Act was challenged by Murari Lal Gupta of Bhiwani, who sought a direction to quash block ‘C’ of the Act, which provides reservation to the Jat community under a newly carved Backward Classes (C) category. The petitioner submitted that reservation for Jats was provided under the new act on the basis of the Justice KC Gupta Commission report, which the Supreme Court had already quashed.

The counsel for the petitioner stated that providing reservation on the basis of the Gupta Commission report tantamount to the revision of a judicial order, which the legislature cannot do. According to the counsel, only the judiciary can revise the findings on an issue already decided in a judicial order.

It was further submitted in the petition that in 2014 as well, the state government had introduced such a bill to include Jats in the list of other backward classes for reservation in jobs and educational institutes.

However, the Supreme Court, in the case of Ram Singh and others versus the Union of India, had held that Jats were not backward socially, educationally and politically.  The new Act provides reservation for Jats and five other communities under the backward class (C) category.

The five other communities – including Jat Sikhs, Muslim Jats, Bishnois, Rors and Tyagis – would be entitled to 10 per cent reservation in government services and admission in educational institutions. A petition, challenging the constitutional validity of the Act initially came up for hearing before a Bench headed by Justice Mahesh Grover of the High Court.