SC agrees to hear plea against Karnataka move to divert Muslim quota

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to list for hearing a plea challenging the Karnataka government's decision to scrap the four per cent reservation for Muslims in the state.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices P S Narasimha and J B 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.

Recently, the state government led by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai decided to scrap the four per cent reservation for Muslims.

In March 2023, 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.