U’khand HC rejects review petition seeking 10% quota to statehood agitators

The Uttarakhand high court on Tuesday rejected a review application in the case pertaining to granting of 10% reservation in the government jobs to the statehood agitators, said advocate Raman Shah.

Shah, intervener in the case, said earlier there was a difference of opinion on the case among two judges, following which it was heard by a third judge.

He said the third judge on March 7 rejected the 10 % reservation, following which they applied for a review petition.

He said the court also denied them permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. He said they would now approach the apex court by filing a special leave petition (SLP).

Shah said the state government had already passed a bill regarding the reservation to the statehood agitators in the state assembly in 2015.

“The name of the bill is ‘Uttarakhand Reservation in government services for marked andolankari of Uttarakhand movement and their dependents bill 2015’. After its passage in the state assembly, the bill was sent to the governor for approval. But owing to litigation in the matter the bill is pending before the office of the governor for approval since then,” he said.

Shah said there were around 10,000 statehood agitators in the state who are seeking reservation. “We are arguing that this is not a permanent reservation but a onetime relaxation,” he said.

It was in 2007, Karunesh Joshi had filed a petition in the high court arguing that he ought to be given place in the category of ‘Rajya Andolankari’ (people who had fought for the statehood of Uttarakhand ) as per the government order issued in 2004 according to which statehood agitators were to be given jobs in government services.

But in 2010, the court quashed the petition. In 2011, a division bench of the high court admitted the petition as a PIL on this issue.

In March this year, the high court again dismissed the petition demanding 10% reservation in government jobs for statehood agitators.