Munmun Kaur
Published On: February 17, 2022 at 14:49 IST
The Supreme Court on February 17, set aside the Order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court wherein the High Court stayed the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act, 2020, which grants 75 percent Reservation in Private Sector Jobs to persons domiciled in Haryana.
A Bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and P S Narasimha said that the Order passed by the High Court is set aside as the High Court did not give any sufficient reasons for staying the Legislation.
The Bench further ordered the Haryana Government not to take any coercive action against employers. The Apex Court asked the High Court to decide the batch of Cases challenging the said Law within a period of one month. It further asked the parties involved in the case not to seek any Adjournments when the High court hears the Case on merits.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the State Government pointed out that a similar Legislation was passed by four other States. To which, the Bench asked, “Do you want us to transfer all the pending cases back here? Should we decide or decide on the stay and send [the matter back] to High Court?”
The Solicitor General also contended that the Legislation was a means to regulate the migrants from settling in other States.
On the other hand, Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave appearing for the Faridabad Industries Association intervened and said that if the said Law is held applicable for even a day, there will be daily prosecutions since there are 9 lakh companies.
Explaining the consequences of the said Legislation, Senior Advocate Dave said that even a Law firm in Gurgaon will be affected and cannot employ juniors from other states unless they employ 75 percent juniors from Haryana itself. He further added, “Definition of an employer is sweeping.”
After hearing all the contentions, the Apex Court said, “We will set aside the order, order no coercive steps and let the High Court decide in one month. We are protecting you.”
The said Legislation came into effect on January 15 and provides for 75% reservation in all private sector organizations for the local candidates.
While on one hand, the State’s rationale is to give a boost to the local youth in terms of employment, the industrial sector has opposed this move as being restrictive. Amongst other things, the Legislation in question is challenged on the grounds of being in contravention of the provisions of the Constitution of India.