New Delhi, June 1: Haryana's politically and economically powerful Jats today moved the Supreme Court challenging a high court stay on the BJP government's decision to reserve jobs and seats in educational institutions for the community, saying thousands would suffer if the order wasn't set aside.

The Haryana Akhil Bharatiya Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti said job recruitments and student admissions had already started since the state government notified the 10 per cent benefit in April, so the high court's stay order last week needed to be set aside.

"The order passed by the Hon'ble Punjab and Haryana High Court dated May 26 will adversely affect the process of recruitment and future prospects of the candidates (who have) applied for recruitment under the backward class category," the pro-reservation group, led by its president Hawa Singh Sangwan, said in its appeal filed through counsel P.D. Sharma.

"It is also pertinent to mention here that admissions for various courses for the session 2016-17 have been started and as per information received... above 21,729 candidates have applied under the backward class category. It is further submitted that the process of (admission for) various professional courses, including MBBS... LLB (and) engineering... have also started for the session 2016-17," the appeal said.

The appeal came a little over a year after the top court struck down the Narendra Modi government's decision to include the community in the list of other backward classes in nine states, thereby making them eligible for benefits the OBCs are entitled to.

What the NDA government did then was basically endorse a decision taken by the UPA government a few days before the 2014 general election.

But the Supreme Court ruled that the decision - which entitled Jats in these nine states to a share of central government jobs and seats in educational institutions - was based on "outdated data" and would amount to "retrograde governance".

In its order, a bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and R.F. Nariman had said a decision that "impacts the rights of many under Articles 14 and 16" - which relate to non-discrimination of citizens - "must be taken on the basis of contemporaneous inputs and not outdated and antiquated data".

"The backwardness contemplated by Article 16(4) is social backwardness. Educational and economic backwardness may contribute to social backwardness. But social backwardness is a distinct concept having its own connotations," the apex court bench had added.

But undeterred by the setback, the Manohar Lal Khattar government this year brought in the Haryana Backward Classes Reservation in Services and Admissions in Educational Institutions Act, 2016.

The act, which provided for a 10 per cent quota for Jats in government jobs and in educational institutions, appeared to be an attempt to circumvent the apex court order.

The Khattar government's decision in March followed unprecedented violence in Haryana for over a week in February as Jat mobs went on the rampage demanding reservation. The violence triggered nation-wide outrage over the reported rape of a large number of women.

Last week, the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the state government's decision through an interim order that followed a PIL.

The May 26 order led to today's appeal.

The act passed by the Assembly provided for reservations under the so-called special backward class castes for six communities - Jats, Jat Sikhs, Bishnois, Rors, Tyagis and Muslim Jats.

Apart from 10 per cent reservation in admissions to educational/professionalechnical institutions, the act provided for direct recruitment for government jobs.

In its appeal today, the Haryana Akhil Bharatiya Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti also said the Haryana Staff Selection Commission had already issued advertisements for recruitments to 41,735 posts in different categories.