The Supreme Court on April 18 postponed the hearing to April 25 against the cancellation of the 4% OBC reservation for Karnataka Muslims after the state assured that there would be no appointments/admissions by government order until then.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing to represent the state of Karnataka, sought time to argue as he appealed to the constitutional judge on same-sex marriage. He further said he would respond over the weekend and asked for an adjournment of the case.

Senior Attorney Kapil Sibal, who appeared on behalf of the petitioners, requested that a copy of the responses be served on them as well. The bench granted SG’s request and adjourned after recording his pledge.

On April 13, Justice KM Joseph, sitting as judge, informed that the reservation had been lifted tentatively for no good reason and indicated his intention to retain the government order until the next hearing.

However, SG Mehta told the Supreme Court that the stay could not be granted until the government has been heard, and he wants certain documents to be put on record to persuade the court to lift the reservation.

The case was adjourned due to SG Mehta’s statement that no entry/appointment will be made for cancellations of 4% of bookings.

In March 2023, the Karnataka government announced its decision to abolish the 4% quota for ethnic minorities and add it to the existing quota for the two major communities in the state.

The 4% reservation given to Muslims under the 2B classification of the OBC category will now be divided into two equal parts and added to the existing quota for Vokkaligas and Lingayats, for whom two new reservation categories 2C were created during the Belagavi Assembly session and 2D last year.

Cabinet decision to place religious minorities under the EWS category.