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Karnataka High Court Strikes Down Enhanced SC ST Quota
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News18•13-10-2026, 07:52
Karnataka High Court Strikes Down Enhanced SC ST Quota
- •The Karnataka High Court struck down provisions of a 2022 state law that increased SC reservations from 15 percent to 17 percent and ST reservations from 3 percent to 7 percent.
- •A division bench ruled that the enhanced quota breached the 50 percent reservation ceiling established by the Supreme Court in the 1992 Indra Sawhney judgment, violating Articles 14, 15, and 16 of the Constitution.
- •Sections 3 and 4 of the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act, 2022, which increased overall reservations from 50 percent to 56 percent, were declared unconstitutional.
- •The legislation was originally passed during the BJP government led by then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai following recommendations from the Justice Nagamohan Das Commission and Justice Subhash B Adi committee.
- •Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre to review the 50 percent ceiling and include the state's reservation provisions in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.
Key Questions Answered
The Karnataka High Court struck down provisions of the 2022 law because it increased reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, taking the aggregate state reservation beyond the established 50% ceiling and violating Articles 14, 15, and 16 of the Constitution.
The division bench struck down Section 3 of the Act for breaching the 50% reservation limit in educational institutions and Section 4 for violating constitutional articles regarding state government services.
The 50% ceiling on reservations was originally laid down by the Supreme Court in its landmark 1992 judgment in Indra Sawhney vs Union of India, a principle that has been repeatedly upheld in subsequent judicial decisions.
