Provide Documents, Establish Chandigarh as Capital: Punjab and Haryana High Court

More than 50 years after Chandigarh came into existence, the 'Capital' issue is reinstated in the legal domain.

New Delhi: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday asked the states of Punjab and Haryana to provide a document or a notification to establish that Chandigarh is their capital, bringing back the Chandigarh capital issue.

More than 50 years after Chandigarh came into existence, the ‘Capital’ issue is reinstated in the legal domain. During the hearing of a petition filed by a resident of Chandigarh, Bench of Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain and Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi told Advocates General of both states to provide any document to show Chandigarh is common capital of Punjab and Haryana.

The issue of Chandigarh as the joint capital of the two states cropped up after the petitioner Phool Singh was declared as a Scheduled Caste (SC) in one state and under the general category in the other, making him ineligible to apply under the reserved category as he is domiciled in Chandigarh.

The case is distinctive as the petitioner was seeking reservation for recruitment in the superior judiciary on the basis of his being an SC candidate in Chandigarh, the capital of both states. The Bench was told that the petitioner, an advocate, had appeared for recruitment in the superior judiciary in both Punjab and Haryana.

Singh had 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 failed to qualify because he was treated as a general candidate in the two states.

As a result, the High court ordered the Punjab & Haryana Advocate General to present documents establishing Chandigarh as the capital of Haryana & Punjab. Haryana and Punjab have in the past been staking their claims on Chandigarh. The next hearing will be held on July 29.

Inputs from Nitika Maheshwari