JOIN USThe Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea by the NDA government seeking review of the March 17 verdict quashing the decision to grant the dominant Jat community other backward classes (OBC) status.
A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and R F Nariman rejected the review petitions filed by the government, and organisations Jat Sabha Zila, Meerut, Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti and Akhil Uttar Pradesh Jat Mahasabha, among others.
Taking up the batch of petitions, the court found no merit to interfere with its verdict.
Just before announcement of general elections, the UPA government passed a notification on March 4, 2014, for the benefit of the community, largely land owning, in states of Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan (two districts of Bharatpur and Dholpur), Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
The move was assiduously supported by the NDA government before the court.
In its review petition, the government contended that the power to grant quota benefit to a community was not dependent on the advice of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).
It claimed that the government was within its rights to take affirmative actions vis-a-vis a community based on social and educational backwardness.Meanwhile, in an open court hearing, the apex court rejected a clutch of petitions by Jats who sought the benefit of reservations as they had cleared various stages of Probationary Officers recruitment exam under the reserved OBC category.
The bench said, since none of the applicants was given the appointment letter, our judgment would apply, disregarding the plea made by senior advocate Indira Jaising on behalf of the petitioners.