The Karnataka High Court on Monday struck down the state law that hiked reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes beyond the 50% ceiling, holding that reservation in excess of the cap would breach the equality clauses.
Division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C M Joshi said the Act that increased SC quota to 17% and ST to 7% - total 24% - taking overall reservation in state to 56% - was unconstitutional.
The Karnataka High Court said law that came into effect in 2023, increasing SC quota from 15% to 17% and ST from 3% to 7%, would breach the 50% ceiling. The state government had argued that population of SCs and STs warranted higher quota, citing Justice Nagamohan Das Commission report and socio-economic data. It also relied on 103rd Amendment that allowed EWS quota beyond 50%.
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The court was not convinced. It said reservation beyond 50% cannot be justified by population alone, and the state's backwardness assessment lacked quantifiable data on inadequate representation as required by Supreme Court in Jarnail Singh and M Nagaraj. It noted that Tamil Nadu's 69% reservation is under 9th Schedule protection, a unique historical exception.
The verdict matters nationally. Karnataka's law was part of a wave - Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Tamil Nadu - trying to push quota beyond 50%. Congress government of Siddaramaiah had made it a poll promise to Dalit and Adivasi groups. Now it will need to go to Supreme Court.
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The court also reminded that creamy layer exclusion and sub-categorization within SC/ST, as mandated in recent Supreme Court judgments, were not addressed in the Act.
For BJP, which opposed the hike in Assembly but now in Opposition at state level, this is political ammunition. For constitutional law, the message is clear: equality clauses have a hard ceiling unless Parliament creates new constitutional sanctuary. Social justice cannot be delivered by mere percentage increase without data, efficiency and administrative efficiency.
Tags: #KarnatakaHC #Reservation #SCSTQuota #50PercentCap #IndraSawhney #Siddaramaiah #SupremeCourt #Equality #Constitution #CasteCensus