HC refuses to vacate stay in Jat quota case, hearing on June 6

A Punjab and Haryana high court bench on Thursday refused to vacate the stay imposed on the implementation of the Jat quota in Haryana.

The application filed by the state government would now be taken up on June 6 by a vacation bench. The bench of justice SS Saron and justice Gurmit Ram was initially inclined to issue notice for July. However, as the government submitted that there was an “urgency” and sought an early date, the matter was fixed for hearing on June 6. The high court is closed for summer vacations from June 3 to July 3.

Appearing for the Haryana government, Supreme Court senior advocate Jagdeep Dhankar argued that the government was in the process of filling 40,000 posts and the process was on for admission to graduate and post-graduate level courses in which 20,000 candidates have applied under the backward class (BC) category in medical and engineering courses and if the stay was not vacated, it would adversely affect the admission process. However, the HC bench asked whether the government wanted the court to pass an order without hearing the petitioner. As Dhankar prayed for an early date, the HC bench posted the matter for June 6.

The HC had stayed implementation of 10% quota to Jats and five other communities on May 26, on a PIL by a Bhiwani resident. The quota law was enacted by the government following violent protests by the Jat community in February in which 30 persons were killed and property worth crores was damaged.