‘Backward class panel can’t submit report till SC orders’

JAT QUOTA Yashpal Malik questions Khattar’s intent, calls for agitation from Dec 21

CHANDIGARH : The All India Jat Aarkshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS) has threatened another stir to press for reservation for the community even as the Supreme Court has ordered a status quo on the matter.

While the Haryana Backward Classes Commission (HBCC), which was asked by the Punjab and Haryana high court to determine the extent and quantum of reservation to Jats, Jat Sikhs, Rors, Bishnois, Tyagis and Muslim Jats, has finished the exercise of collating the data and examining it, it cannot make its findings public due to a Supreme court order.

HBCC chairman justice SN Aggarwal (retd) on Monday said the commission has completed the groundwork and is ready to wrap up its findings. “We will need two weeks to conclude whether Jats and five other castes qualify for reservation or not,’’ he said.

Since the Supreme Court ordered status quo on March 26, the commission could not have submitted its report to the state government by March 31 as ordered by the high court.

During the last hearing on August 6, the apex court ordered: “Await the order of reference pending before the constitution bench. Interim order to continue in the meantime.”

The BJP government in Haryana had enacted a law in 2016 to provide 10% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions to Jats and the five other castes. In September 2017, the high court ordered that this law will be kept in abeyance till the HBCC determines the extent and quantum of reservation in jobs and educational institutions. The commission was asked to submit its report by March 31. AIJASS president Yashpal Malik questioned the intentions of the BJP government in handling the matter. “The state government did not make any tangible efforts to get the status quo vacated by the Supreme Court. It’s because of the government’s ineptness in handling the matter that the Supreme Court ordered status quo on an interim order of the high court. I have doubts about the intent of Manohar Lal Khattar government. It suits them if the matter remains stuck in a legal tangle,’’ he said.

On Sunday, Malik announced a dharna at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on December 21 to restart the agitation.

SINCE THE SUPREME COURT ORDERED STATUS QUO ON MARCH 26, THE COMMISSION COULD NOT HAVE SUBMITTED ITS REPORT BY MARCH 31 AS ORDERED BY HC