Court rejects Gujjar quota demand, stir spreads

Jaipur: In a major setback to the agitating Gujjars, the Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday said that the community could not be given special reservation in government jobs and that an Act passed by the state assembly in 2008 for giving them reservation benefits has no substratum of quantifiable data that could justify the reservation. A bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Mahesh Bhagwati also directed the state government to carry out an exercise within a year to establish the backwardness of Gujjars, Raikas, Raibari and Gadiya Lohar communities in education and government jobs.


The court order added fuel to the fire as the agitating Gujjars in the state have threatened to intensify their protests. The state is already in the grip of a law and order crisis in the peak tourism season as violence.