Show Chandigarh is capital of Punjab, Haryana: HC

Chandigarh, July 22

More than 50 years after Chandigarh came into being, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the states of Punjab and Haryana to come out with a document to establish that the city is their capital.

The query came during the hearing of a petition filed by an advocate seeking reservation in the two states by  virtue of him being a city resident. As the case came up for resumed hearing before the Bench of Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain and Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi, the issue of Chandigarh being the joint capital of the two states cropped up as a person declared SC in one state is not necessarily considered the same in the other.

The case, as such, was “unique” as the petitioner was seeking reservation in both the states for recruitment in the superior judiciary on the basis of his being an SC candidate in Chandigarh, the capital of both states.

The Bench initially took up the matter in the morning session after treating it as urgent. After hearing the case for about an hour, it called the Advocates-General of both states. They were asked to come out with a notification, letter, or any other document that showed Chandigarh was the capital. 

Petitioner Phool Singh filed a plea against the High Court and other respondents through senior counsel Rajiv Atma Ram and Arjun Partap Atma Ram. The High Court was represented by senior counsel Manisha Gandhi and Swati Batra.      

The Bench, among other things, was told the petitioner was an advocate, who had appeared for recruitment in the superior judiciary in both Punjab and Haryana. He cleared the preliminary examination for the post of Additional District and Sessions Judge, but could not make it in the mains. The Bench was told that he was treated as a general category candidate in the two states. As a result, he was not selected. — TNS