The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition challenging the decision of the Karnataka government to abolish the four percent reservation for Muslims in the state. The plea was presented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who assured the bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala that all defects in the petition have been removed.
The CJI had previously pointed out that there were defects in the petition, but Sibal said that they have now been cured. The bench agreed to list the plea for hearing.
The Karnataka government, under the leadership of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, recently scrapped the four percent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) Muslims’ reservations in jobs and education.
The four percent OBC Muslim quota has been divided between the Vokkaligas and Lingayats, while Muslims eligible for the quota have been classified under economically weaker sections. The state government’s decision has raised the reservation limit to about 57 percent.
The state government recently scrapped the four percent reservation for OBC Muslims and introduced two new categories for reservation in jobs and education, which has raised the reservation limit to around 57 percent.