New Delhi (TIP)- The Supreme Court on Thursday, April 13, questioned the Karnataka Government’s decision to scrap the 4 per cent reservation for Muslims under the OBC category in government jobs and educational institutions and distribute it equally to Vokkaligas and Lingayats, saying prima facie it appeared to be based on “fallacious assumptions”. “Prima facie, the impugned GO (government order) appears to suggest that the foundation of the decision-making process is highly shaky and flawed…. This government order is based on completely fallacious assumptions. This reservation has been given since 1994… they (Muslims) have been enjoying it for a very long time…. On the basis of the documents produced, Muslims are backward and then suddenly it’s changed,” a Bench led by Justice KM Joseph said. On behalf of the Karnataka Government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Bench that “nothing irreversible will happen between today and Tuesday. I will not say beyond Tuesday but till Tuesday”.
The Bench, which also included Justice BV Nagarathna, asked the Karnataka Government and the counsel representing the Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities to respond to the petitions filed by Muslims and posted the matter for further hearing on April 18.After the Karnataka Government’s March 27 decision, which came weeks before the May 10 Assembly elections, Muslims will be eligible to vie for the 10 per cent reservation under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category while the 4 per cent quota enjoyed by them for three decades stands distributed equally between Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas – considered to be numerically dominant and politically influential communities in the state.
On behalf of the petitioner, senor advocates Kapil Sibal, Dushyant Dave and Gopal Sankarnarayanan submitted that no study had been conducted and there was no empirical data available with the state government to scrap the quota for Muslims in public employment and education. “The minority community needs court’s protection…. Reservation is not largesse, it’s a right,” Sibal submitted.
Source: TNS