Haryana govt challenges HC stay on private job quota in Supreme Court

The Haryana government's law provides 75 per cent reservation for local candidates holding domicile status on posts where the gross monthly salary is not more than ₹30,000

The Haryana government has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court challenging the Punjab & Haryana High Court order staying the state law providing 75 per cent reservation in private sector jobs for local candidates.

The Manohar Lal Khattar government's private quota law came into force on January 15. (PTI)

The top court agreed to hear the Manohar Lal Khattar government's appeal on Monday after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought an urgent hearing.

The solicitor general pointed out before the bench that it stayed the act after giving him just 90 seconds to argue.

Earlier, the high court stayed the law as it failed to find merit in the state’s emphatic arguments on treating the legislation prime facie valid in the interests of the unemployed youth in the state.

“We have heard the learned solicitor general of India. We admit the petition and stay the Act,” directed a bench of justices Ajay Tewari and Pankaj Jain after hearing Tushar Mehta’s submissions on behalf of the Haryana government, during a hearing that lasted less than two minutes.

The Haryana government's law provides reservation for a “local candidate”, who has been defined under the Act as someone “domiciled in the state of Haryana”. Under the law, every employer is required to employ 75% “local candidates” for posts where the gross monthly salary is not more than ₹30,000. The Act, which covers private companies, societies, trusts, and partnership firms, came into force on January 15. The law was made applicable for 10 years.