NEW DELHI: The Karnataka government on Thursday assured the Supreme Court that no admissions or appointments will be made on the basis of the government order scrapping 4 per cent OBC (Other Backward Classes) reservation for Muslims, till April 18.
The assurance was given by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to a bench of Justices K M Joseph and B V Nagarathna, which listed the matter for further hearing on April 18. The bench also issued notice to the Karnataka government and others on the pleas and asked them to file a reply.
Meanwhile, Mehta said that nothing irreversible will happen between today (Thursday) and next Tuesday and urged the court to list the matter on Tuesday so that he can file a counter reply against the petitions. Mehta informed the top court that it will place some commission reports in the reply. He also said that Muslims who are OBCs are already getting reservation.
During the hearing, the court opined that it seems that the government order is based on fallacious presumptions. The court also noted that this is the season of admissions and asked whether they are going to act on this report.
The petitioner said that the decision of the state government was completely unconstitutional, which is done just ahead of the upcoming Assembly election. The petitioners also said that the government has misrepresented facts and that there is no empirical data.
Earlier, in the morning, the Supreme Court agreed to list one of the pleas, challenging the Karnataka government’s decision to scrap the reservation of 4 per cent given to Muslims in the state. The plea was mentioned by senior advocate Kapil Sibal before a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala.
Sibal said that the petition is against cancellation of the 4 per cent OBC reservation and apprised the court that defects in the petition have been removed.
The Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai-led government recently scrapped the 4 per cent given to Muslims under OBC quota and distributed it to the two dominant communities, Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas. The government also decided to move OBC Muslims to the 10 per cent Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category. (ANI)