The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday issued a notice to the Haryana government on a petition challenging reservation to Jats and other four communities of the state by the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government in 2013.
The division bench of justice SK Mittal and justice HS Sidhu issued notice on a petition by Bhiwani resident Ved Prakash, who has sought the quashing the decision of the state government.
The 10% reservation was given on the recommendation of Haryana Backward Classes Commission (HBCC) under the Special Backward Class (SBC) quota for Jats, Jat Sikhs, Bishnois, Rors and Tyagis.
The HBCC was headed by retired Justice KC Gupta. The petitioner submitted that reservation to jats was given in violation of Constitution. According to information got under RTI 27% Class-1 government officers are Jats.
In the case of Class-2 and Class3 officers 30% and 32% are Jats respectively, the petitioner submitted, stating that how could reservation be given to such a community that had only 25% population in the state.
The petition also submitted that there was a conflict of interest as members Jai Singh Bishnoi and Som Dutt, a Ror were members of the HBCC. The petitioner has also stated that the commission did not do any ground work and documents accessed under RTI Act proved that no “thorough exercise” was carried out before the reservation was given. He has submitted seeking quashing of the 2013 notification of reservation to these communities.
{{/usCountry}}The petition also submitted that there was a conflict of interest as members Jai Singh Bishnoi and Som Dutt, a Ror were members of the HBCC. The petitioner has also stated that the commission did not do any ground work and documents accessed under RTI Act proved that no “thorough exercise” was carried out before the reservation was given. He has submitted seeking quashing of the 2013 notification of reservation to these communities.
{{/usCountry}}In 2013, the Haryana government had implemented the controversial recommendations of the HBCC in a bid to appease the Jats, thereby taking the reservation in the state beyond 50%.
In March, the Supreme Court had quashed reservation to Jats in the Central list and set aside the notification extending OBC status to Jats, by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in nine states.