New Delhi:
The Centre's politically-loaded decision to grant reservations to the Jat community in jobs and education just before the national election has come under judicial scrutiny. The Supreme Court today asked the Centre to explain why it ignored a statutory body's advice against quota for Jats.
"This seems to be a serious matter and we want to know if serious application of mind went into it," said a bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam, asking the government to turn over all files related to the decision. The Centre has been asked to respond by April 9.
The court acted on a petition by the "OBC Reservation Raksha Samiti," which said that including Jats in the central list of OBC or Other Backward Categories, to provide them quotas, was a decision taken in a hurry with vote-bank politics in mind.
The group also said the National Commission for Backward Classes had repeatedly opposed any reservation for the Jat community.
Quota for Jats is seen as the Congress' attempt to improve its poll prospects in nine states where the community has a strong presence - Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Bihar. Congress leaders have assessed that over eight crore Jats in these states can be the deciding factor in at least 30 Lok Sabha constituencies.
The National Commission for Backward Classes had opposed a quota for Jats on grounds that the community cannot be classified as "backward" and such a move would deprive more deserving groups of central benefits. The proposal was still cleared at a special cabinet meeting on March 2 and notified on March 4, just a day before the announcement of Lok Sabha polls brought a model code of conduct into effect.
The code bans parties from making any announcements that would influence voters.