HC quashes law provision on quota classification under BC category

The high court also set aside the merit lists prepared for admission to state’s medical colleges and ordered fresh counselling; order came on plea of an MBBS course aspirant

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday set aside provisions of the Haryana government law on classification of reservation under backward class (BC) category for government jobs and admissions to state’s educational institutions, including medical colleges.

The order came on the petition of Ashu Hooda, a Rohtak resident and MBBS course aspirant, who had challenged the provisions of Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Act, 2016.

As per the provisions of the 2016 the Haryana law, the children of those from among the backward classes having a gross annual income of up to Rs 3 lakh will first of all get the benefit of reservation admission in educational institutions and government jobs and the left out quota will go to the applicants from the same category whose family annual income is between Rs three and Rs six lakh per annum.

The high court also set aside the merit list prepared for the admission to state’s medical colleges and ordered fresh counselling.

The high court bench observed that the end result of move is that benefit has been given with one hand only to take it away with the other.

AS PER LAW, CHILDREN OF THOSE HAVING ANNUAL INCOME UP TO ₹3 LAKH WILL FIRST GET ADMISSION OR GOVT JOBS AND LEFT OUT QUOTA WILL GO TO THOSE WHOSE FAMILY ANNUAL INCOME IS ABOVE ₹3 LAKH

“There is absolutely no established co-relation between the socially backward and the economic deprived and thus, on the said reasoning, we are of the opinion that the impugned notification has to be held to be bad in law and deserves to be set aside,” said the high court bench of justice Mahesh Grover and justice Mahabir Singh Sindhu.

The court said that economic criteria and well being can be one of the indications for social uplift but can’t be the sole criterion.

“Evidently, the social advancement of a caste or a group would have to be identified on an empirical data and it cannot be assumed straightway that those with income above Rs 3 lakh would have unshackled the social backwardness; such an exclusion from within the identified backward classes cannot stand the test of constitutional requirement,” the high court bench said.

It added that state has faltered in prescribing this criterion for the reason that it is not substantiated by any verifiable data to establish social backwardness of the classes that stand to benefit.

The government had argued that the law was enacted to ensure that the benefit of reservation percolate to the truly deserving persons.

On the other hand, the petitioners had argued that the provisions of the law were in conflict with the judgment of the Supreme Court in Indira Sawhney case of 1992 and some other cases, which call for identifying the beneficiaries on the basis of a verifiable data.