The Karnataka government has defended in the Supreme Court its recent decision to scrap the 4 per cent reservation for Muslims in jobs and education, contending that no such benefit can be extended on the basis of religion.
The government pointed out that only two states — Kerala and Karnataka — had been offering religion-based quota. The now-scrapped quota in Karnataka had been introduced in 2002.
The Karnataka government argued that reservation for Muslims would lead to further deprivation of the backward classes and groups within the community as the forward groups within the community would corner the benefits.
The BJP government in Karnataka has scrapped the 4 per cent reservation for Muslims within the Other Backward Classes and redistributed the quota among thepolitically influential Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities ahead of the Assembly elections.
“Reservation, solely on the basis of religion, also amounts to over-classification under Article 14 (right to equality). The classification of the entire religion as backward is bereft of any rational basis and would be arbitrary and unreasonable and thus violative of the principles of Article 14 of the Constitution of India,” the state government said.
“Even otherwise, it would lead to further deprivations of the backward classes/ groups within the Muslim community as the forward class/ groups within the Muslim religion would be in a position to garner the benefits thereunder. Further, provision of reservation on the basis of religion would be violative of the constitutional mandate of Article 15(1) by way of which the State is duty-bound not to discriminate only on the basis of religion. The reservation granted amounts to discrimination against other religions,” it added.
The Karnataka government has made the submission through an affidavit in response to petitions filed by aggrieved Muslims seeking the quashing of the orders dated March 27, 2023, through which the 4 per cent quota was abolished.
According to the government, several backward classes commissions have since 1975 opposed religion-based reservation.
“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.”