"Highly shaky and flawed”, the Apex court of the country called the decision-making process behind scraping the reservation of 4% to OBC provided to Muslims under Category 2B by the Karnataka government. A bench comprising KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna called the BJP-led Karnataka government’s decision prima facie based on an “absolutely fallacious assumption”, news agency PTI reported. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, In an attempt to delay the stay order, appearing to the state, assured the Apex Court that no admissions or appointments would be made in pursuance of the Government Order scrapping the Muslim reservation. “Nothing irreversible will happen between today and Tuesday,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted, LiveLaw reported. The government decision was based on an interim report of the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes. The Court stated that the State could have waited for the final report before revoking the reservations. “What was the great urgency?” Justice Nagarathna asked. By April 17, the State has been asked to file its affidavit in the matter. The bench recorded the submission of SG that “no appointment or admission is going to be made till 18.04.2023 based on the impugned GO.” Appearing for the Muslim community, Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Dushyant Dave argued that reservations could not be for political reasons. As per data Muslims are a backward community in Karnataka and they were entitled to reservations, a report was submitted by Dave. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in an election rally in March, lauded the move by Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai saying the quota was “constitutionally invalid”, Maktoob reported. He also claimed that BJP does not believe in “appeasement politics”. Several weeks before impending elections for the state legislature, Muslims in the state have angrily protested the idea. The 4% reservation was eliminated by the Karnataka government, and the remaining 4% was split equally between the Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas at 2% each. Vokkaligas make up 15% of the state, and Lingayats make up 17%. They are two of the most influential communities in Karnataka. According to Dave, the interim report in question warns against changing the reservation's status without careful consideration. The court noted that Muslims now do not have any reservations while Vokkaligas and Lingayats have. According to SG, Justice Chinappa Reddy's investigation found that Muslims are just academically behind. He said they might try to get the EWS reservation. Dave countered that the report makes it evident that Muslims are uneducated and socially backward. No empirical data to back Muslim reservations and the reservation was given to them solely based on their religion, claimed SG Mehta. “Instead of religion, they are given on a socially and economically backward class basis,” Justice Nagarathna orally remarked. The government accorded 101 Scheduled Castes the internal reservation. Muslims, who come under Category 2B were transferred to the 10% EWS quota pool.
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