The many sops and schemes of Haryana govt that failed legal test

Jolted by the results of the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls, where it lost five seats out of the 10 to Congress, and ahead of the Assembly polls slated for October, the BJP government in Haryana has got busy announcing various welfare schemes and sops. Among others, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini recently handed over possession letters of 100-sq yard plots to 7,500 beneficiaries and reintroduced the HAPPY scheme under which families with an annual income of less than Rs 1 lakh are provided with 1,000 km of free travel annually on state transport buses. The BJP government also removed the age limit cap on a scheme for farmers, farm labourers and market yard labourers under which financial assistance is provided in case of death or disability while operating agricultural machinery. Now, children younger than 10 years and persons older than 65 years will also be eligible for benefits under the Mukhyamantri Kisan Evam Khetihar Mazdoor Jeevan Suraksha Yojana. Saini also announced that his government will soon initiate the recruitment process to fill 50,000 vacant posts in the state. Government sources said that majority of these shall be contractual posts to be filled through Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam Limited. Several other major announcements are in the pipeline. However, the BJP government’s several announcements in the past, mostly made keeping polls in mind, have failed to stand the legal scrutiny in the courts of law. In the last one year, the Haryana government suffered setback at least seven times in the Punjab and Haryana High Court and even in Supreme Court. HC terms additional marks under socio-economic criteria in govt jobs unconstitutional The latest blow came on May 31 this year when the Punjab and Haryana High Court held as unconstitutional — and violative of Articles 14, 15, 16 of the Constitution — the socio-economic criteria prescribed by the state government to grant additional marks to certain classes of candidates in government jobs. CM Saini later said his government will move Supreme Court against the high court order as the “ambitious scheme” gave “five additional marks to candidates from the poor, weak and deprived sections of the society to bring them forward”. Reached for comments, Advocate General (AG), Haryana, Baldev Raj Mahajan said, “Earlier, the HC had appreciated the state government for it. It is a good policy, and a different judge can have a different view on it.” State promotes judicial officers, but only after HC and SC intervention Meanwhile, on April 4, the Haryana govt finally notified the elevation of 13 judicial officers to the post of additional district and sessions judges (ADJs) in accordance with the recommendations made by the Punjab and Haryana High Court as per new criteria for promotion. The move, however, came after a protracted legal battle including a contempt petition filed by the judicial officers against the state government. Earlier, allowing the plea by a bunch of judicial officers, the high court on February 23, 2023 had directed Haryana government to to appoint them as as ADJs. On September 12, 2023, Haryana government vide a letter refused to accept the HC order and later moved SC challenging it. In February 2024, however, while disposing of a bunch of appeals, a top court bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chadrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra upheld HC’s verdict even as it took strong note of the Haryana government’s move to approach the Centre for seeking legal opinion. The top court observed that a high court’s opinion in matters of judicial appointments in the subordinate judiciary is not a mere formality, but has a binding effect on the governor, as per the constitutional scheme. The judicial officers, meanwhile, filed contempt plea in HC, following which the Haryana government accepted the HC recommendation to promote 13 judicial officers as ADJs AG Mahajan said, “There is a difference of opinion between the HC and the government on administrative side.” HC holds 75% quota for Haryanvis in private jobs violative of Constitution. The state government, then a coalition of BJP and the Jannayak Janta Party, had hit the headlines when it enacted a law — The Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act, 2020 — mandating 75 per cent vacancies in private sector jobs with salaries below Rs 30,000 to be reserved for candidates who are state domicile. The coalition government had went ahead with creating the legislation despite heated debates over the issue in the Vidhan Sabha and questions raised by the legal experts. In November 2023, however, the high court division bench comprising Justices GS Sandhawalia and Harpreet Kaur Jeewan quashed the law while holding it to be “unconstitutional and violative of Part III of the Constitution of India”. The bench said it was beyond the purview of the State to restrict a private employer from recruiting from the open market. “.the State cannot direct the private employers to do what has been forbidden to do under the Constitution.It cannot as such discriminate against the individuals on account of the fact that they do not belong to a certain State and have a negative discrimination against other citizens of the country,” the bench said. Then deputy CM Dushyant Chautala, whose JJP had won 10 seats in the 2019 assembly polls with 75% quota for haryanavis in state jobs as its main promise, had said the government will challenge the HC verdict in Supreme Court. In March this year, the BJP unceremoniously severed ties with the JJP, and formed the government under a new CM on its own. Mahajan said that in the cases, where the notifications by the Haryana government have been quashed by the HC, “we are challenging those orders in the Supreme Court.” Talking to The Indian Express, Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda accused the government of making such announcements and decisions to gain benefits during elections. “But, people of Haryana have understood their gimmicks. It was visible in the results of the Lok Sabha polls. Whatever they [BJP] may do or announce, people are not going to fall in their trap. They [BJP] talk of reservation and then announce job opportunities through HKRNL. It is nothing but a move to promote corrupt practices. There is no reservation in HKRNL, neither is it a permanent job, nor is there any merit that is followed. Basically, the government has no intention to give jobs to youth. Had they been serious, they would have filled up over 2 lakh sanctioned posts that are lying vacant.”