Srinagar: On the petition challenging the J&K Reservation Rules made during the Lieutenant Governor’s rule that grants 70 percent reservation to different categories and leave only 30 person to Open Merit candidates in the recruitment, promotions, and admissions, the J&K High Court has sought assistance of government lawyer and directed that appointments made under the reservation rules shall be subject to the outcome of the case.
Justices Atul Sreedharan and Moksha Khajuria Kazmi while hearing the matter ordered that any appointment made under the amended Reservation Rules shall be subject to outcome of the case.
The judges also sought assistance of Advocate General, D C Raina on the matter. The case has been listed again after two weeks.
The petition had recently been fled in the court challenging the newly amended J&K Reservation Rules that give almost 70 percent reservation to Schedule Tribe (ST), Schedule Caste (SC), and other categories and leave only 30 percent to Open Merit candidates in the recruitment, promotions and admissions in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The petition filed by advocates Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, Ishrat Nabi, and Ishfaq Ahmad Dar, sought immediate revocation of the amended rules and recruitment and admission notices issued thereof.
The petitioners prayed for a notice to be issued for the formation of an expert commission headed by a retired high court judge and members of each community and category to recommend the reservation based on population percentage in the Union Territory of J&K.
They also sought directions to rationalise the new reservation as per the Supreme Court guidelines, which have capped the reservation at 50 percent.
According to the amended Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act of 2005, the UT government provides 60 to 70 percent reserved seats to 20 to 30 percent of the population, which are divided into several categories. It included Pahari-speaking persons and 15 other castes, further reducing the possibilities of the flourishing of merit and the society at large.
According to the petition “the government has decreased the percentage of open merit in Jammu and Kashmir government recruitment posts of open merit from 57 percent to 33 percent, Resident of Backward Area (RBA) from 20 percent to 10 percent. It increased the reservation for Scheduled Tribe (ST) from 10 percent to 20 percent, Social Caste from 2 percent to 8 percent, and ALC from 3 percent to 4 percent, PHC from 3 percent to 4 percent, and added new categories: Children of Defence personnel 3 percent, Children of police personnel 1 percent, candidates possessing performance in sports 2 percent, which is ultra vires to the Constitution”.
