Karnataka government assured Supreme Court on Tuesday that it will not enforce its decision for another week
Posted Date – Tue, 18 Apr 23 at 09:22pm
New Delhi: The Karnataka state government on Tuesday assured the Supreme Court that it will not implement its decision to abolish the 4 percent employment and education quota for Muslims in the OBC category within the next week.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the government of Karnataka, argued before Justices KM Joseph and Justices BV Nagarathna that the state government needs more time to file an affidavit on the matter. Last week, the state government had been buying time until Monday to submit a response. After hearing Mehta’s opinion, the Supreme Court postponed the hearing until April 25.
The state government had assured on April 13 that it would not continue to accept admissions or placements in any educational institution in accordance with the March 27 order.
The Supreme Court made some strong comments on the way the state government removed the 4% OBC quota for Muslims and placed them in the Economically Weakened Class (EWS) category, saying the basis of the decision-making process was “highly unstable and flawed”.
The Supreme Court told the Solicitor-General representing the government of Karnataka: “On the face of it, we tell you that the first thing you pass is an order…seems to indicate that the basis of the decision-making process is very shaky and flawed…it It was an interim report and the country could have waited for a final report on one side. What’s the big deal?”
Mehta proposed that the court should allow the state to answer on the matter, that the pleas would begin in May, and that if the matter goes to trial next week on Monday or Tuesday, nothing will happen.
“Allow me to submit a response, these are raw procedures. There is no empirical data as a religion…they (Muslims) are included based on religion. It’s not something special. Can’t wait until April 17th?
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Dushyant Dave, Prof. Ravivarma Kumar and Gopal Sankaranarayanan appeared on behalf of petitioner L. Ghulam Rasool and others. Dave argued that maintaining the government order meant that Muslims would continue to receive the benefit of the 4% reservation, “otherwise, they would lose education and employment opportunities…why should we fail?” The notice itself is illegal and unconstitutional. “
Sibal said that since the early 1990s, they fell behind, and now they put them in the general category, and 23 years later, Muslims are in the general category without research. This, he said, was a direct violation of Article 14, as was the entire notification, which canceled the reservation.
“It’s like I’m poor so I’ll be in the general category,” he added.
Dave reiterated that there is no research to support the removal of Muslim quotas.
After hearing detailed arguments, the judge said the decision was ostensibly based on faulty assumptions and was invalid because it was based on the committee’s interim report. Petitioners have taken the Supreme Court challenging the Karnataka government’s decision to abolish quotas for Muslims.
