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The Supreme Court on Thursday, 13 April, expressed its inclination to stay a Government Order (GO) passed by the Karnataka government scrapping the four percent reservation for Backward Class (BC) Muslims.
The apex court bench comprising Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna said that prima facie, the Cabinet's decision appears to suggest that the foundation of the decision-making process is "highly shaky and flawed," LiveLaw reported.
This came after a petition was filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Karnataka government's decision to scrap the three-decade-old four percent BC reservation provided to Muslims under Category 2B.
After the Supreme Court expressed its inclination to stay the government order, the Karnataka government assured that no admissions or appointments would be made in pursuance of the GO, till 18 April – the next date of hearing.
Justice Joseph, remarking on the withdrawal, said, "On the face, they (Muslims) have been enjoying this position for a very long time...On basis of documents produced, Muslims are backward and then suddenly it is changed," LiveLaw reported.
He added, "This is the season of admissions. Schools reopen in June or even earlier. Whether they are going to act on this report, we must know."
Senior Advocates Dushyant Dave and Kapil Sibal appeared for the Muslim community.
Dave said that the interim report cited by the government itself advised against altering the existing status of reservation without proper study. However, he added, the government proceeded to withdraw reservation for Muslims by "falsely claiming" there is no empirical data.
Meanwhile, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta claimed that as per Justice Chinappa Reddy report, Muslims are only educationally backward.
This was disagreed with by Dave, who said that the report clearly states that Muslims are socially and educationally backward.
He was further quoted as saying:
Just before the Assembly elections were announced, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's Cabinet on 25 March, increased reservation, provided under the BC list, for the Panchamasali Lingayats and Vokkaligas. The state also clearly demarcated sub-caste reservations among Scheduled Castes.
To increased the reservation for Lingayats and Vokkaligas, the cabinet scrapped reservation for Muslims in the state, who will now have to claim reservation under the EWS quota and not 2B category of the BC list.
The government included the Panchamasali Lingayats under the new 2D category of the BC list and increased their reservation from 5 percent to 7 percent.
The government included the Vokkaligas under the new 2C category of the BC list and increased their reservation from 5 percent to 7 percent.
Speaking to The Quint, Nizam Pasha, an advocate representing the Muslim community, said:
The state government had cited an interim report of the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes as basis for their decision.
The Supreme Court stated that the Karnataka government could have waited for the final report before revoking the reservations provided to Muslims, LiveLaw reported.
The advocate added:
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