In the election season in Karnataka, 4 per cent Muslim quota row took a legal turn as the Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to list for hearing a plea challenging the Karnataka government's decision to scrap the reservation in the state.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala took note of the submissions of senior advocate Kapil Sibal that all the defects of the petition have been removed.
“I mentioned this (petition) in court three yesterday. This is against the four per cent reservation being cancelled,” Sibal said.
“But the defects (in the petition) were not cured,” the CJI said.
The senior lawyer said all the defects have been cured.
“Alright, we will list it,” the bench said.
Election & Muslim quota
Ahead of the assembly election, the state government led by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, recently, decided to scrap the four per cent reservation for Muslims. Opposition Congress criticized the move. The BJP government's decision is seen as an extension of the anti-Muslim stand of the saffron party after Tipu Sultan and the burqa ban row to polarise voters in the upcoming election.
The Karnataka government announced two new categories for reservation in jobs and education and scrapped the four per cent quota for Other Backward Classes (OBC) Muslims.
The four per cent OBC Muslim quota has been divided between the Vokkaligas and Lingayats. Muslims eligible for quota have been categorised under economically weaker sections now. The state government's decision has pushed the reservation limit to around 57 per cent now.
Karnataka elections
The poll process for the May 10 Karnataka Assembly elections is formally set in motion on Thursday with the gazette notification. According to the Election Commission's (EC) schedule of events, the last date of making nominations is April 20. The papers will be scrutinised on April 21 and the last date of withdrawal of candidature is April 24. Of the total 224 constituencies, 36 seats have been reserved for Scheduled Castes and 15 for Scheduled Tribes. The counting of votes is on May 13.
(With PTI input)
