Haryana's 75% quota in private jobs to stay, big win for state as SC sets aside HC order

The Supreme Court overturned a Punjab and Haryana High Court ruling on Thursday putting an interim stay on a Haryana law establishing a 75% quota in private sector jobs for state residents. A bench of justices L Nageswara Rao and Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha further urged the Haryana government not to impose coercive measures on employers. "We do not want to deal with the merits of the case because we aim to ask the high court to rule promptly and within four weeks. Parties are instructed not to seek adjournment and to appear in court to set the day and time for the hearing," the court said.

"Meanwhile, Haryana has been instructed not to take coercive action against employers. The high court's challenged ruling is overturned since the high court did not provide adequate reasons for halting the Act," according to the bench. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General of Haryana, appeared on behalf of the state government.

The ruling came in response to an appeal filed by the Haryana government appealing a Punjab and Haryana High Court order granting an interim stay on its statute guaranteeing a 75% quota in private sector jobs for state residents. The high court granted an interim stay on the Haryana government bill on February 3 based on petitions submitted by several industrial groups from Faridabad and other organisations in the state, including in Gurugram.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said in November last year that the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act, 2020, will take effect on January 15, this year. Though the government had claimed that the Act would apply to all occupations paying a gross monthly income of up to Rs 50,000, it released another notification last year stating that the upper limit had been decreased to Rs 30,000.

Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya gave his approval to the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Bill, 2020, in March 2021. The main election pledge of Dushyant Chautala's Jannyak Janta Party (JJP), which is in an alliance with the BJP in Haryana, was to provide a 75% quota in the private sector employment.

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