The Supreme Court on Friday referred the petition concerning 4 per cent reservation to the backward Muslims students in the educational institutions in Andhra Pradesh to the Andhra Pradesh High Court and asked it to decide the issue by October 31.

A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan asked the High Court to look into the cases of the students who had been granted interim relief.

On the last date of hearing, Solicitor General G E Vahanvati had submitted that Karnataka and Kerala had been giving reservation to the Muslims in the country.

“It is submitted that states such as Karnataka and Kerala do have sub-categories of OBC, including Muslims, who have been categorised as a separate class,” said Mr Vahanvati, while producing the copies of the order of the Karnataka and Kerala governments.

The bulk of Muslims belonging to the socially and educationally backward castes (SEdBCs) were lost sight of for over several decades,  under circumstances explained in Sri P S Krishnan’s report.

Whereas the other groups have had the benefits of reservation for over 30 years (including SCs converted to Christianity).