Jat quota to be in abeyance till March 2018

Chandigarh, Sept. 1: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Friday kept in abeyance till March next year the implementation of a Haryana law providing reservation to Jats and five other communities.

It also directed the State Backward Classes Commission to determine the quota in government jobs and education institutions to be given to these communities after studying relevant data and submit a report by March 2018.

A division bench comprising justices Surinder Singh Saron and Lisa Gill also directed the Commission to collect quantifiable data till November 30 and upload it on its website to invite objections.

The petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Act, 2016 providing reservation to Jat and five other communities under the newly-created backward classes (C) category, had been filed before the court last year.

The Act was passed unanimously by the state assembly on March 29, 2016 and was notified in the official gazette on May 12, 2016 by the state government.

The new act provided reservation under BC (C) category to Jats, Jat Sikh, Mulla Jat/Muslim Jat, Bishnoi, Ror and Tyagi.

On May 26, 2016, a division bench of the HC had stayed the reservation to these communities after hearing the public interest litigation.

“The reservation granted under Schedule 3 shall