SC to hear pleas on scrapping of Muslim quota on April 25

The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned to April 25 a clutch of petitions that have challenged the Karnataka government’s decision to scrap the 4% other backward classes (OBC) quota for Muslims following a request made by the state, which also assured the court that no fresh appointment or admissions will be made in terms of the contentious government order (GO) till the next date of hearing. Appearing before a bench led by justice KM Joseph, solicitor general Tushar Mehta requested more time to enable the state finalise its response to the petitions. Mehta further pointed out that he is also appearing before the constitution bench that is set to begin hearing the same-sex marriage case from Tuesday and, therefore, would require some accommodation to work on the counter affidavit to be filed on behalf of the Karnataka government. Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioners, did not object to the adjournment but said the state should share the counter affidavit with them over the weekend so that they come prepared to argue on April 25. Accepting the state’s request, the bench said it would adjourn the matter to Tuesday next but the state will remain bound by its undertaking given to the court on March 13. The bench then deferred the hearing, recording in its order: “At the request of the learned solicitor general, stand over these matters to April 25. The statement of S-G will continue till next date.” On April 13, the bench, which included justice BV Nagarathna, had commented that the Karnataka government’s decision is “prima facie shaky and flawed”, as it admitted a bunch of petitions that have challenged the validity of the March 27 GO that did away with the 4% OBC quota for Muslims and distributed it equally to two dominant communities, Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas. On March 27, the Karnataka government made the change, which is seen as a move aimed at pleasing two dominant backward classes ahead of state elections in May. According to the bench, the state showed “haste” in issuing the GO based on an interim report when the final report of a cabinet sub-committee was still to come through and all the previous reports had termed Muslims a socially and educationally backward class. On that day, Mehta said the government would justify its decision by filing a comprehensive affidavit and bringing on record all the relevant papers. The law officer added that there is no provision in the Constitution to provide reservation on the basis of religion, and that eligible Muslims were still being given the benefits of reservations under economically weaker sections (EWS) now. Mehta resisted any interim order staying the GO, arguing that the petitioners, which comprised members of the Muslim community, had failed to show if any irreparable damage would be caused to them by giving the state three days to bring on record its affidavit. While the petitioners in the case, represented through senior counsel Dushyant Dave, Kapil Sibal and Gopal Sankaranarayanan, pressed for an immediate stay of the GO on March 13, senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi appeared for the Vokkaliga and Lingayat community members and opposed the plea. Rohatgi said that the rights of the two communities will be affected by a stay order and thus, the top court must have all the relevant facts before it at the time of making such decisions. During the hour-long hearing, the bench repeatedly observed that the state government should hold its hands and not act in terms of the GO until the matter is heard at length, prompting Mehta to give an undertaking that no irreversible step will be taken till the next date of hearing. Muslims were given 2B reservation (for moderately backward classes) in 1994 during HD Deve Gowda’s tenure as chief minister after multiple state commissions, including the O Chinnappa Reddy Commission, classified them as socially backward. Ahead of the crucial Karnataka assembly elections, the state government removed Muslims from the 2B backward classes category, under which the community received 4% reservation, and pooled them under the EWS quota through the March 27 GO. As a result, reservation for Vokkaligas and other castes in the 2C category went up from 4% to 6%, while reservation for Lingayats and other castes increased from 5% to 7% in the 2D category (for backward classes). Christians and Jains are also classified under the 2D category as per the government order. Following a state cabinet meeting on March 24, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai announced the scrapping of the quota, saying: “There is no provision under the Constitution for reservation to religious minorities … It was struck down by the court in Andhra Pradesh. Even Dr B R Ambedkar had said that reservation was for castes.” Even as the decision that sparked intense political debate, Union home minister Amit Shah lauded the Bommai government a day later when he attended an event in Karnataka. “Reservation granted to minorities was not constitutional. There is no provision in the Constitution to give reservation based on religion,” Shah said. “The Congress government, due to its appeasement politics, granted reservation for minorities.” (Source: TH)