The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday, 17 February, set aside the interim order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which had granted an interim stay on the operation of a law by the Haryana government providing 75 percent reservation to locals in private sector jobs, reported LiveLaw.
The apex court on Thursday said that the high court had not stated any "sufficient" reasons for passing the interim stay order. It also requested the high court to decide on the matter within four weeks.
"The order passed by the High Court is set aside as the High Court has not given sufficient reasons for staying the legislation," the top court ordered, as per Bar and Bench report.
A bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and PS Narasimha observed that the high court cannot stay the ongoing implementation of a statute without cause.
The bench said, "There is a presumption of legality of statute. There should be some patent illegality for staying it. The court can't stay legislation with a single line order."
Passing the order, the SC stated that there should be no coercive steps against employers under the act in the meantime, LiveLaw reported.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state of Haryana, had suggested the stay on the HC's order. He said that the act was meant to regulate migrants from other states and was aimed at providing locals with jobs in private sector, as reported by LiveLaw.
However, senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the employers' association, raised objections at the HC's order being set aside and said that such a law would be unconstitutional.
He highlighted that there has been no empirical study that points to the backwardness of a particular class before providing them reservation.
He asserted that the SC must consider the Constitutional infirmities, which the high court had done before passing the order. If the legislation is manifestly unconstitutional, it has to be stayed, he said.
What Has Happened So Far?
The Haryana government had on 4 February, moved the apex court challenging the Punjab & Haryana High Court's order, which had granted an interim stay on the Haryana government's law.
The Haryana government had notified last year that the law of implementing 75 percent quota for local people in private jobs with a monthly salary ceiling of Rs 50,000 would come into force from 15 January 2022.
The act provides for reservation of 75 percent in new jobs to local candidates in various companies, societies, trusts, and limited liability partnership firms situated in the state.
(With inputs from LiveLaw.)
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