Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday constituted a committee of senior Ministers headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to study the Supreme Court’s verdict quashing reservation for the Jat community in Central Government jobs and educational institutions. The decision came after the Prime Minister assured a 70-member Jat delegation that the Government would sympathetically consider their grievances arising out of the court’s decision.
According to sources, the committee, headed by Jaitley, met in the evening and discussed the issue with several legal luminaries. The Government is expected to file a review petition on the SC’s verdict and also hold consultations with the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), which is empowered to recommend reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC), said sources privy to the development.
Earlier, in the morning, the PM said the Government would try to find a solution to the roadblock by the SC order, within the legal framework. He said this to the delegation of Jats from various States which met him to discuss issues related to the community, including the recent SC decision regarding reservation.
“The Prime Minister listened carefully to the issues raised by the delegation. He said the Government is studying the SC’s decision and will try to find a solution to the issue within the legal framework,” a PMO statement said.
The Government lost the case in the SC due to the “hurried and flawed order” issued by the previous UPA Government in the wake of general elections with an eye on the Jat vote bank.
The Government went ahead despite the NCBC’s recommendation, which did not support reservation for Jats. The UPA Government’s order providing reservation to Jats came one day prior to the Election Commission’s notification for lok Sabha elections in March 2014.
The apex court on March 17 scrapped reservation for the Jat community given by the UPA Government in nine States. Setting aside the notification extending OBC status to Jats, the SC slammed the Centre’s decision to overlook the findings of an OBC panel that Jats are not a backward class.
“Caste, though a prominent factor, cannot be the sole factor for determining the backwardness of a class,” the Bench had said, while referring to the historic judgement rendered by a larger Bench on the implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations on OBC reservations.
During the meeting with the Jat delegation, the Prime Minister urged them to take the lead in implementing his favourite campaign of ‘Beti bachao, beti padhao’ said PMO officials.
The Jat delegation later also called on BJP president Amit Shah at his residence.
Earlier, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar had said that the State Government was sensitive towards the interests of the Jat community and assured full support and cooperation on the issue of reservation within the framework of law.