Bengaluru: Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot has sent the bill giving 4 per cent reservation to Muslims in government contracts to President Droupadi Murmu for assent, saying that the Constitution doesn’t allow for reservations based on religion.
“The proposed amendment, providing 4 per cent reservation to the Backward Class Category-II(B), which include only Muslim, may be construed as reservation for the community based on the religion,” read a statement from the Raj Bhavan.
The Governor also quoted a Supreme Court judgment That “emphasized that Articles 15 and 16 prohibit reservations on the basis of religion and any affirmative action must be rather based on the socio-economic factors”.
The Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements (Amendment) Bill, meant to provide 4 per cent reservation for Muslims in public contracts, was passed by the state assembly in March.
The state’s Opposition BJP and HD Kumaraswamy’s Janata Dal Secular had called the bill “unconstitutional”. The two parties followed it up with a petition to the Governor that said the bill would “polarise society
