The Karnataka High Court has struck down the state’s 2022 increase in SC and ST reservation. The ruling revives the 50 per cent quota ceiling debate as the government weighs an appeal.
The Karnataka High Court on Monday struck down provisions of a 2022 state law that raised reservation for Scheduled Castes from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and for Scheduled Tribes from 3 per cent to 7 per cent, saying the increase breached the 50 per cent ceiling on quotas. The court said the changes took the total reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes from 50 per cent to 56 per cent.
A bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice K S Hemalekha held that Section 3 of the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Posts in the Services under the State) Act, 2022, violated Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution. It also struck down Section 4, which provided for enhanced reservation for SCs and STs in state government services, as unconstitutional for violating Articles 14 and 16.
The bench said, “Section 3 of the Act, insofar as it takes the aggregate reservation beyond the ceiling of 50 percent, is struck down as it violates Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution.” The 50 per cent ceiling was laid down by the Supreme Court in the 1992 Indra Sawhney versus Union of India case and has since been upheld in several decisions.
The verdict came on two petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the law. One petition was filed by Mahendra Kumar Mitra, state president of the Dr Ambedkar Scheduled Castes Federation. The other was filed by Sagar H R, Prajwal Kumar D and Purushotham Gowda G M, civil engineering graduates who had applied for appointment as Assistant Engineer (Civil) in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike.
The Act was passed during the BJP government led by then chief minister Basavaraj Bommai. It received the governor’s assent on January 11, 2023, and was published in the Karnataka Gazette a day later. The legislation followed recommendations and reports on the representation of SCs and STs, including those linked to the Justice (Retd) Nagamohan Das Commission and the committee headed by former high court judge Justice Subhash B Adi.
Reacting to the ruling, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara said the judgment was a serious development with far-reaching implications for social justice, educational opportunities and public employment in Karnataka. He said, “We respect the judiciary and the constitutional framework within which it operates. At the same time, this judgment raises fundamental questions about the political responsibility of the previous BJP government and the continued inaction of the BJP-led Union government.”
