Jats exclusion from backward list: HC seeks Delhi govt's reply

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday sought a response from the city government on a plea seeking quashing of a notification including Jat community in the state list of backward class.

A bench of Justice Rajiv Shahi Endlaw asked Delhi government to file its reply on the plea and posted the matter for further hearing on February 17.

The bench also directed the petitioner to file an amended list of parties and include major Jats group as parties in the matter.

During the brief hearing, counsel for petitioner informed the court that several groups of the community have made representation to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) either for inclusion or exclusion of Jats from the list of backward class.

He said that 70 groups of the community have made representation before NCBC for inclusion of Jats in the list of backward classes while 66 groups made representation for opposing the inclusion in the list.

The plea, filed through advocate Chetan Dutt and advocate Raj Kumar, said that since NCBC has in its advice on February 26, 2014 to the government opined that Jats are not entitled to be included in the list of backward classes, Delhi government has till now not excluded the community from the list.

It said that NCBC report has said that "ethnically Jats are at a higher level, they are of Indo Aryan desecent; their educational level is high and the social status they command is far higher than the ordinary shudras."

The plea said that Delhi government has come out with a notification dated July 31, 2000 in which jat community was included in the list of backward classes but despite NCBC finding and advice, the community has not been excluded.