Muslim quota in Karnataka: Supreme Court rejects political remarks

Public statements should not be made on sub judice matters, the Supreme Court said, adding that they have nothing to do with politics.

The Supreme Court today expressed significant disapproval of any political statements made in connection with a lawsuit involving the removal of the 4% Muslim reservation in Karnataka

. The top court stated that greater sanctity must be upheld when there is a judicial ruling while deferring till July the appeals of the Karnataka government’s decision to abolish the long-standing 4% OBC reservation for Muslims in the state.
The court ruled that statements should not be made in public regarding proceedings that are still pending and added that they have no bearing on politics.

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Prior to the Karnataka polls on May 10, the petitioners took issue with a recent statement made by Home Minister Amit Shah on the subject. For the petitioners, senior advocate Dushyant Dave claimed that Mr. Shah was “proudly saying” that his party had eliminated the Muslim quota.

“Why should such statements be made by anyone when the matter is under appeal?” Judge BV Nagarathna questioned.

When speaking on behalf of the government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta asserted that neither the context nor the content of Mr. Shah’s remark were disclosed to the court.

According to Mr. Mehta, “If someone says they are principally against religion-based reservation, it is completely justified,” the court responded by saying it only wants discipline to be upheld.

You have the right to claim that the four percent reservation is unconstitutional from this platform since you are the SG and the attorney who is representing the case. Tushar Mehta was told by Justice BV Nagarathna, “But someone else from a public location makes a statement…completely different.

Due to an ongoing hearing in the same-sex marriage case, Tushar Mehta requested a postponement.

The matter was listed in July after the bench ordered that the interim orders made during the previous hearing be followed until further orders.

After the state administration requested extra time to submit its response, the top court ruled that Karnataka’s previous policy of providing Muslims 4% of the population shall remain in effect till May 9, the day before voting for assembly elections.

The Karnataka government informed the top court on April 26 that it had made a “conscious decision” to end reservation on the basis of religion alone since it is unconstitutional. As a result, it had eliminated the 4% quota for the Muslim community

The state government responded to a number of petitions contesting its two orders from March 27 that eliminated the 4% quota for Muslims in the “Other Backward Castes” category 2B and increased the quotas for Vokkaligas and Lingayats for admission and employment in government positions.