The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the Centre over its decision to include the Jat community in central list of OBCs in nine states that will benefit around nine crore people.
The apex court passed the order in response to a plea challenging the Centre’s notification on inclusion of Jats in OBC category.
The apex court, while directing the Centre to file its reply by April 9, said, “It seems to be a serious matter, we want to know if serious application of mind went into it.”
The country’s highest court asked the Centre to place before it the entire material and files that provided the ground for its decision to bring Jats under the OBC category.
The court also sought the assistance of Attorney General in this case.
The development comes nearly ten days after the Union Cabinet cleared an ordinance paving way for Jat reservation in government jobs.
The decision aims at providing the Jat community members the benefits of reservation in central government jobs and central education institutions as per the existing norms.
The Central list of OBCs for the states of Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarrakhand, Uttar Pradesh and the National capital territory of Delhi will include the Jat community.
The decision, which was largely seen as an attempt by the ruling Congress to woo a large chunk of Jat voters, was hailed by Jat Mahasabha, which said it was a long-pending due for the members of the community who have limited land holdings.
Around nine crore Jats live in nine states – Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Bihar.
The government also issued notification in this regard, which mentions that Muslim Jats in Gujarat are also included in the central list, but in other states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi, there is no mention of it.
