NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday observed that the recent Karnataka government order (GO) scrapping 4% Muslim quota in the state and reallocating it to the dominant Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities, was on highly shaky ground and flawed.
Amid indications that the court could stay the GO, the Karnataka government bought time by assuring that it would not make any appointment or admissions on the basis of its March 27 GO. The GO had shifted Muslims from the OBC list to the 10% Economically Weaker Section quota pool.
A bench of justices K M Joseph and B V Nagarathna said its prima facie opinion was that the GO was "absolutely fallacious assumption", adding it was in the teeth of Justice Chinnappa Reddy Commission’s report.
“This GO is based on completely fallacious assumptions. We are only saying prima facie. The order which you have passed appears to suggest that the foundation of the decision-making process is highly shaky and flawed,” Justice Joseph remarked.
Questioning the urgency to scrap the quota ahead of the Assembly elections, Justice Nagarathna said that it was done based on an interim report of the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes. “The government could have waited for the final report. What is the urgency?”
The bench granted the state government and the Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities time to file their responses and directed listing the case on Tuesday.
The court was hearing petitions filed by Anjuman E Islam and Ghulam Rasool, who had sought quashing of the GO.
For the petitioners, senior advocate Dushyant Dave said the order was passed just two days before the announcement of the state elections. “How can a government make a statement that empirical data was not available?” he asked.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal said, “For 23 years I’ve been backward. Can it ever be that I fall into the general category without any empirical data? It is contrary to Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.”
Opposing the petitioners, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Karnataka government, said: “Muslims who are OBCs are already getting reservation. Constitution does not permit religion-based reservation.”
For the dominant communities, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi said that the GO shouldn’t be stayed without hearing the community.
The state's Basavaraj Bommai government decided to scrap the four per cent reservation for Muslims in government jobs and educational institutions weeks ahead of the state assembly polls on May 10.
The state government announced two new categories for reservation and divided the four per cent Muslim quota between the Vokkaligas and Lingayats, the two numerically dominant and politically influential communities.
Muslims eligible for quotas were categorised under the economically weaker sections.
The state government's decision has pushed the reservation limit to around 57 per cent now.