The chamber judge of the Appellate Division has set July 4 for a full-bench hearing of a petition seeking a stay on a High Court order that had declared the cancellation of the freedom fighter quota in government jobs illegal.
Justice M Enayetur Rahim, chamber judge of the Appellate Division, passed the order on Sunday, reports UNB.
Earlier in the day, the state counsel filed a petition seeking a stay on the High Court order that had declared the government’s decision to cancel the freedom fighter quota for first- and second-class government officers illegal.
After extensive protests by a section of students and job seekers, the government bowed to their demands and scrapped quotas in government jobs, issuing a circular to this effect on October 4, 2018.
After almost six years, on June 5, the High Court ruled that scrapping the 30% reservation for freedom fighters (and their families or descendants) in government jobs was illegal.
A bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat passed the order.
The government, through its circular dated October 4, 2018, said recruitment in all government jobs in ninth to 13th grades would be completely merit-based, abolishing quotas.
It overturned an executive order from November 1972 through which the government had introduced a 30% quota for freedom fighters and 10% for women in government, semi-government, defence and nationalized institutions.
Various governments at various times tweaked the reservations, adding or removing communities targeted for upliftment for various reasons, from political to developmental.
