High court upholds Haryana’s Jat quota law, stays implementation till March 31, 2018

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Friday upheld a Haryana law ensuring 10% reservation for Jats and five other communities but stayed its implementation till a government panel finalises the quantum to keep it within the Supreme Court-mandated limit.

The top court had earlier ruled that reservation in government jobs and educational institutions must not exceed 50%.The high court said the extent of reservation will be determined by the State Backward Classes Commission on the basis of data submitted either by the state government or collected on its own,” additional advocate general Lokesh Sinhal said. “Commission to decide issue by Mar 31, 2018.”

A powerful Jat organisation, spearheading an agitation for reservation for the community, was yet to react to the verdict.At least 30 people were killed and more than 300 people injured when an agitation by the Jats had sparked largescale violence in Haryana in February last year. Property worth crores of rupees was also damaged in arson during the agitation that left the state paralysed for nearly two weeks.

Before the verdict, Ashok Balhara, the general secretary of the Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti, had threatened to launch a fresh stir if the court struck down the reservation.

The high court’s division bench had last year stayed the Haryana Backward Classes (reservation in services and admission in educational institutions) Act 2016 after it was challenged on the ground that law was contrary to the basic structure of the Constitution and exceeded the 50% limit set by the Supreme Court.