Karnataka Governor Gehlot reserves Bill on Muslim quota in government tenders; sends it to President

The Bill earmarks a four per cent reservation to the 2B category – Muslims – in government tenders below Rs 2 crore and procurement of goods and services below Rs 1 crore. The government, in the past, had enacted laws to provide reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes in government tenders.

Returning the file on the Bill to the government, the Raj Bhavan cited a Supreme Court decision, which said, “‘It is for the Governor to exercise his discretion and decide whether he should assent to the Bill or should reserve it for the consideration of the President to avoid future complication’.”

The Governor argued that while other reservation categories have multiple castes, category-2B “consists only one caste, i.e. Muslim”. Referring to the previous BJP government decision to withdraw 4 per cent reservation provided to the Muslim community based on the recommendations of the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes, the Governor said that the previous government’s decision remains challenged in the Supreme Court. “(sic) Hence, as per the proposed amendment, providing 4% reservation to the Backward Class Category-II(B) which include only Muslim may be construed as reservation for the community based on the religion,” he said.

Raj Bhavan added that there was a high chance that the reservation offered through the Bill “might be construed as reservation based on the religion, even though earlier, it is considered as Backward Class, in turn which may lead to more legal complications.”