No admission, appointments on basis of GO scrapping 4 pc OBC reservation for Muslims till April 18: Karnataka Govt assures SC

New Delhi [India], April 13 : Karnataka Government on Thursday assured the Supreme Court that no admissions or appointments will take place on the basis of a government order, scrapping four per cent (Other Backward Classes) OBC reservation for Muslims, till April 18.

The assurance was given by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to a bench of justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna, which listed the matter for further hearing on April 18.

The bench also issued notice to Karnataka Government and others on the pleas and asked them to file a reply.

Meanwhile, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that nothing irreversible will happen between today and Tuesday and urged the court to keep the matter on Tuesday so that he can file a counter reply against the petitions.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the top court that it will place some commission reports in the reply. He also said that Muslims who are OBCs are already getting reservations.

During the hearing, the court opined that it seems that the government order is based on fallacious presumptions. The court also noted that this is the season of admissions and asked whether they are going to act on this report.

The petitioner said that the decision of the state government was completely unconstitutional, which is done just ahead of the upcoming assembly election. The petitioners also said that the government has misrepresented facts and that there is no empirical data.

Earlier in the morning, the Supreme Court agreed to list one of the pleas, challenging the Karnataka government's decision to scrap the reservation of four per cent given to Muslims in the state. The said plea was mentioned by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal before a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal said that the petition is against the four per cent reservation being cancelled. He also apprised the court that defects in the petition have been removed.

Karnataka's Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai led 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.

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