Supreme Court on Wednesday, denied entertaining the plea filed against 100 percent domicile quota in the public employment in the Union Territory Jammu and Kashmir. The three-judge bench of the apex court had asked the petitioner to approach the J&K High Court.
Justices L Nageswara Rao, Hemant Gupta and S Ravindra Bhat refused to entertain the plea and said, “Why are you saying it’s a PAN India affair? You can approach the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. Withdraw it and go back to the High court.”
The PIL filed by Ladakh based lawyer Najum UI Huda sought the quashing of sections 3A, 5A, 6, 7 and 8 of the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Decentralization and Recruitment) Act as violative of Articles 14, 16, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India as these sections direct 100 percent reservation to domicile of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir in public employment.
Advocate Nishant Khatri appearing for the petitioner raised the point that after the scrapping of Article 370, J&K is also subjected to similar laws and top court judgments as of the rest of the parts of the country.
The plea also stated, “Section 5A of the law which says that only domicile of the state shall be eligible for appointment to any post was violative of Article 16 (3) of the Constitution which guarantees equal opportunity in employment. The reservations contemplated to Article 16 should not exceed 50 percent.”
In March 2020, centre has introduced the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Adaptation of State Laws) Order 2020 which signifies few amendments in the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Decentralization and Recruitment) Act. Section 5A of the ordinance stated that all level 4 posts will be reserved for domiciles of Jammu and Kashmir.
