Supreme Court Adjourns Hearing In Karnataka Muslim OBC Quota Case By 4 Weeks

The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned the hearing of the petition challenging the Karnataka government’s order scrapping an almost three-decade-old four per cent reservation provided to Muslims in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category in the state. The Karnataka Government had scrapped the 4% reservation and distributed the same equally among the Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas at 2% each. The matter was listed before the division bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice SVN Bhatti today. The request for adjournment was made by both the State of Karnataka and the petitioners. The matter has been listed after 4 weeks.In April, a division bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna was informed by the solicitor-general that no appointment or admission was going to be made on the basis of the impugned government order till the next date of hearing. During an earlier hearing, the bench had observed that the Government's decision prima facie appeared to be "flawed and shaky".BackgroundUnder the scanner is a government order by which the former Bharatiya Janata Party-led Karnataka government sought to exclude Muslims from the Other Backward Classes category and scrap the four per cent reservation given to them under Category II(B). After moving Muslims under Category II(B) to the ten per cent reservation pool for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), the Veerashaiva-Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities, previously included under categories III(A) and III(B), were granted an additional two percent of the newly available seats, increasing their total share. Ahead of the assembly elections, the ruling BJP government has also decided to provide internal reservation among 101 Scheduled Castes. Case Title: L Ghulam Rasool v. State of Karnataka & Ors. | Writ Petition (Civil) No. 435 of 2023

Supreme Court Adjourns Hearing In Karnataka Muslim OBC Quota Case By 4 Weeks

Sheryl Sebastian

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