Karnataka govt defends scrapping of 4 pc Muslim quota, says reservation cannot be on basis of religion

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], April 25 : Karnataka Government has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court defending its decision to scrap four per cent OBC reservation for Muslims in the state. The state government also submitted that the provision of reservation on the basis of religion would also be contrary to the concept of Secularism.
Karnataka Government has filed the affidavit in response to various petitions challenging its decision to scrap four per cent OBC reservation for Muslims in the state.
In the affidavit, Karnataka Government said the Petitioners herein have sought to give a colour to the exercise in question which is completely baseless.
"The timing of the decision, etc are immaterial without the Petitioners clearly demonstrating that the reservation on the basis of religion is constitutional and permissible. Merely because reservations have been provided in the past on the basis of religion, the same is no ground for continuing the same for perpetuity, more so when the same is on the basis of an unconstitutional principle," Karnataka Govt said in its affidavit.
Karnataka Government submitted that Petitioners have directly approached the top Court under Article 32 of the Constitution, without approaching the Karnataka High Court and therefore urged the top court to dismiss the petition on this ground alone
Karnataka Government submitted that historically, the State of Karnataka has adopted conscious governance initiatives through affirmative action to address social and economic backwardness and to make public service more inclusive and representative of the population.
Karnataka Government said the State Government took a conscious decision to not continue with the reservation on the sole basis of religion as the same is unconstitutional and contrary to the mandate of Articles 14 to 16 of the Constitution of India.
As far as the reservation solely on the basis of religion is concerned, it is humbly submitted that the same is not justified, Karnataka Govt said and cites three Backward Classes Commission Reports.
The state govt said that the aim of reservation, as envisaged in the Constitution, is to promote social justice by providing affirmative action to those who have historically been marginalized and discriminated against in society. The same has been enshrined in Articles 14 to 16 of the Constitution of India. Article 14 provides for equality before the law and prohibits the State from denying to any person, equality before the law or equal protection of laws.
The state government submitted that reservation solely on the basis of religion is also contrary to the principles of Social Justice. As the concept of social justice aims to protect those who are deprived and discriminated against within the society, the state government further added and said, "Including within the said ambit an entire religion would be an antithesis to the concept of social justice and the ethos of the Constitution."
Karnataka Government submitted that therefore reservation cannot be extended to any community on the sole basis of religion. "It is humbly submitted that the provision of reservation on the basis of religion would also be contrary to the concept of secularism," the government said.
Karnataka Government said that the Muslim community suffers no prejudice as they can avail the benefit of EWS reservation which is 10 per cent.
"It is most respectfully submitted that the grant of reservations in a state and redistribution thereof is purely an executive function dependent on the ground realities. The issue with regards to which group should be treated as a backward class and what benefits should be available to them is the Constitutional duty of every State," the Karnataka Government said.
"In the present case as well, the reservation which has been deleted had been conferred upon the Muslim community as a whole. On the other hand, the specified backward communities within the Muslim community continue to get the benefit of the reservation," the affidavit said.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday morning adjourned till May 9 hearing on a plea challenging the Karnataka Government's decision to scrap four per cent OBC reservation for Muslims. Meanwhile, Karnataka Govt assured again no admissions or appointments will be taken place on the basis of the government order scrapping four per cent OBC reservation for Muslims till May 9.
The court was hearing various petitions challenging the government order scrapping four per cent OBC reservation for Muslims.
Karnataka's Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's government recently scrapped the reservation of four per cent given to Muslims.
The Karnataka government last month scrapped the four per cent OBC reservation for Muslims 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.
It also decided to move OBC Muslims to the 10 per cent Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category.
Meanwhile, the Assembly election in Karnataka is scheduled to be held on May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13.