Chandigarh: Hearing a challenging reservation for Jats and other castes in Haryana on the grounds that it is in violation to a Supreme Court order, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday granted interim stay on the reservation given to Jats and five other castes in the state.
The court has fixed July 21 for the next hearing when the government will file its reply.
The Haryana government had earlier approved the Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Bill.
The Bill enlists Jats, Bishnois, Tyagis, and Rors in the recently sculpted Backward Classes (C) category, making them eligible for 10 per cent reservation in classes 3 and 4 posts, and six percent reservation in classes 1 and 2 jobs.
The Haryana Cabinet on March 28 approved the Jat Reservation Bill to provide reservation to Jats and four other castes in government jobs and educational institutions.
The BJP-led state government had said would bring the Bill to provide reservation to Jats and four other castes – Jat Sikhs, Bishnois, Tyagis and Rors.
The community has been demanding reservation in the existing backward classes (BC) category. The Backward Classes quota is bifurcated in two categories–BC-A and BC-B having 16 and 11 percent reservation respectively.
Some Jat leaders said they had lost hopes for the reservation after the incidents of violence during the agitation, but their repeated meetings with the Chief Minister, cabinet ministers and senior officers revived their hopes for the Bill.
In a meeting on March 19, the Chief Minister and Agriculture Minister O.P. Dhankar met khap leaders and assured them to bring the Jat reservation Bill during the Budget session.
A committee headed by Chief Secretary D. S. Dhesi to review the Jat reservation had earlier submitted its report to the state government. (ANI)