Gurugram: The Punjab and Haryana High Court Friday quashed the controversial Haryana law that reserved 75 percent private sector jobs for local residents, terming it “unconstitutional”.
A bench of Justices Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Harpreet Kaur Jeewan passed the order on a civil writ petition filed by the Faridabad Industries Association, which was later joined by other industrial associations of Haryana.
The law — the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act, 2020 — mandated that 75 percent of jobs in new industries or already existing industries be given to domiciles of Haryana. This was to be applicable to only those jobs that came with a salary less than Rs 30,000 per month.
All privately-managed companies, societies, trusts, and limited-liability firms in Haryana with 10 employees or more came under the purview of this law.
In its interim order on 3 February last year, a bench of Justices Ajay Tewari and Pankaj Jain had stayed the implementation of the Act.
Arguing for the state then, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta had said that there was “an insinuation” that the law would affect existing employees, which he said was incorrect. “The law is prospective and it saves the existing employees,” Mehta had said.
The government later challenged the stay in the Supreme Court, which directed the high court to decide the case expeditiously.
The law, when notified on 6 November, 2021, was portrayed as a major achievement of Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala. Chautala’s Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), part of the ruling coalition, had made this promise in the run-up to the 2019 assembly polls.
Speaking to ThePrint, Chautala said he has not seen the order so far. “I will read the judgment, get it examined by legal experts and then take a call for filing a special leave petition before the Supreme Court,” he added.
Haryana government’s media secretary Praveen Attrey meanwhile said the state would take legal opinion on the order and decide accordingly.
Taking a dig at the BJP-JJP government, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda said the quashing of the law shows that the government has not defended it properly in the high court.
BJP-JJP सरकार में गठबंधन न ₹5100 बुढ़ापा पेंशन पर था और न ही प्राइवेट सेक्टर में हरियाणा के युवाओं को रोजगार में 75% आरक्षण पर था, इनका असली गठबंधन तो भ्रष्टाचार के समझौते पर था।
जब अन्य राज्यों में युवाओं के लिए रोजगार में 75% आरक्षण उपलब्ध है, तो आज पंजाब-हरियाणा हाईकोर्ट… pic.twitter.com/0w88MHoBR3
— Deepender S Hooda (@DeependerSHooda) November 17, 2023
Vineet Punia, an AICC general secretary and Congress leader from Haryana, also questioned the sincerity of the BJP-JJP government in defending the law in court, while speaking to ThePrint Friday.
President of Faridabad Industries Association, Raj Bhatia, said he was happy with the court’s decision. “The association had challenged the law because it was unconstitutional and against the interests of the industry,” Bhatia said.
Rakesh Chhabra, president of the Rai Industries Association, welcomed the court order and said this would benefit the industry. “We are always of the view that a state government should have minimum interference with industry if it wants business to grow. The law was a big hindrance to the growth of the industry and we were not at liberty to employ people who were better suited for the job.”
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