The ball now seems to be in Prime Minister Atal.Behari Vajpayee's court, with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot saying the state government will not hesitate in granting reservation to Jats if the Central Government takes a decision to do so on the basis of the Central Backward Classes Commission, ``if there are no legal hurdles in doing so''.

The reason for Justice Verma's resignation was the ``pressure'' brought to bear on him, particularly by the categorical promise made by Prime Minister Vajpayee during his election tour, that Jats would be given reservation. ``Since the government seemed to have already made up its mind, my exercise seemed to become meaningless,'' he said.

Gehlot, meanwhile, said the state government would try and persuade Justice Verma to reconsider his decision. The government has notaccepted Verma's resignation but if needed, a new Chairman could be appointed, he said.

But either way, Gehlot said, if the Centre accepted the Central Commission's report and recommending reservation for Jats, the state government would follow suit. Jat Mahasabha (JM) Reservation Committee spokesman Jagdeep Dhankhar said the JM was not concerned with such matters and its only object was to secure reservation for Jats before panchayat elections due in a couple of months. Criticising Justice Verma, Dhankhar said his resignation was ``an act of impropriety on his part to run down the PM over a statement made six weeks ago''. Dhankhar asked, adding that there was nothing wrong in the PM's statement which was ``in conformity with the best traditions''.

Justice Verma, who resigned after being on the Commission for four months, said it would have taken about 8-10 months to complete the work and arrive at a decision. The matter could be decided only after completing the required process and fulfilling therequirements laid down, otherwise the decision could be challenged and turned down by the courts, he said. In this situation, the statements promising immediate reservation put on him a pressure he could not bear, he added.

Justice Verma said that under his predecessor, the Commission had not gone into details of Jats' status in areas with mixed population or aspects such as their representation in services, their landholdings, etc., thoroughly. He said he was in the process of obtaining these details when the elections were announced. Government staff became busy with election work and this work was held up.

Dhankhar, however, saw this as contradiction of Gehlot's claim that the government had supplied the details required by the Commission from time to time. He also saw no need for the Commission to carry out any survey to determine the status of Jats. ``Reservation should be and can be given without any such survey. Israni Commission had given reservation to over half a dozen castes without anysurvey,'' he asserted. Justice Verma said such reservation was given to castes about which there was no dispute about their low status, whereas there was a lot of opposition to reservation for Jats.