HC stays Haryana govt’s law providing 75% reservation for locals

Staying the Haryana law mandating 75 per cent reservation in the private sector for people domiciled in the state, the court said “The core issue is whether any state can restrict employment (even in the private sector) on the basis of domicile”.

The Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act, 2020, which came into force on January 15, provides for 75 per cent reservation in the private sector to jobseekers “domiciled in the state of Haryana”. The law covers private companies, societies, trusts and partnership firms and applies to jobs that offer a maximum gross monthly salary or wages of up to Rs 30,000. Central or state governments and any organisation owned by these governments are outside the ambit of the Act.
The law was passed by the Haryana Vidhan Sabha on March 2, 2021. It came into effect in the state on January 15, 2022. As per the law, eligible candidates are required to register on a designated online portal. Companies can make recruitments only through this portal.

The law had been opposed by industry associations on the ground that it would affect their business and make them less competitive.

The Gurgaon Industrial Association, one of the petitioners, contended that Haryana wanted to institute reservation in the private sector by introducing a “sons of the soil” policy, which it said infringed on employers’ constitutional rights. The association argued that recruitment for private jobs was “purely based on the skills and the analytical bent” of employees who are Indian citizens with a constitutional right to work anywhere in the country. It also contended that the law violated the country’s federal structure in that it would “benefit [only] one class” of citizens.

Tushar Mehta, solicitor general of India, appeared for Haryana and vehemently opposed the petitioners’ request for an interim stay on the law, saying the constitutionality of a statutory provision was always presumed, even though the writ court might ultimately hold it unconstitutional. He rejected the contention that the law would affect existing employers as “it would not apply to current staff”. His third point was that only a handful people were opposed to the law because about 38,000 workers domiciled in Haryana and about 900 establishments had already registered under it.

After hearing all the submissions, the high court said the core issue was whether a state could restrict employment on the basis of domicile. “In these circumstances, we are constrained to stay the implementation of the Act,” said the bench in its order.

The bench also said the state government had responded only to three petitions, and granted it four weeks to file written statements in the other connected matters. These petitions would be heard on April 18, 2022.

Reacting to the court order, Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala tweeted, “We shall continue to fight for employment opportunities of Haryanvi youth #75% reservation.” Providing 75 per cent reservation in private sector jobs for those who have a state domicile was a key poll promise of Dushyant’s Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), which is part of the BJP-led government in the state.

JJP secretary general and Dushyant’s younger brother Digvijay Chautala said, “Punjab and Haryana High Court has only issued a stay order on this Act and sought a reply from the state government. It is a routine procedure. Moreover, it’s not just Haryana; several other states have implemented such laws. We shall implement it in Haryana too and the state government will relentlessly contest in favour of ensuring 75 per cent reservation to the youth of the state.”

Reacting to the court’s interim stay, Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the BJP-JJP government had failed to “defend before the courts its own jumla of providing 75 per cent reservation to local youth”.

“The state government has completely failed on the unemployment front and Haryana has been on the top in terms of unemployment for the last three years. First the BJP, and then the BJP-JJP coalition, has not been able to formulate any effective policy to overcome unemployment. To divert attention from this, the government recently raised the jumla of giving 75 per cent reservation to youth of the state in private sector jobs, but this government could not even defend this in court, which is why it was rejected,” Hooda said.

Additional Chief Secretary (Labour department) Raja Sekhar Vundru had earlier said, “Within a week of the implementation of the law, over 14,687 local candidates and eight companies have registered on the State’s Labour Department’s portal created for the purpose.” Vundru added that the government was awaiting more companies to register.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, said, “Though the matter of giving 75% reservation to the youth of Haryana in the private sector has been stayed in the High Court for the time being, but the government will firmly stand its ground and will fight in the court. Even when the law of educated panchayat was implemented in Haryana, the High Court had imposed a stay. After this, the decision was not in our favour but we won the case in the Supreme Court. Later it was implemented. Will also fight on the law of 75% reservation and will go to the Supreme Court, if needed”.