Karnataka High Court strikes down SC/ST quota increase

The Karnataka High Court struck down provisions that raised reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in education and state government jobs, ruling that the increase pushed the overall quota beyond the 50% ceiling and was adopted without required prior consultation with national commissions. A division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice K.S. Hemalekha invalidated Section 3 of the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Reservation Act, 2022, insofar as it raised aggregate reservations above 50%. It also struck down Section 4, which provided for the enhanced quotas in state services. The law increased the Scheduled Caste quota from 15% to 17% and the Scheduled Tribe quota from 3% to 7%. The 32% reservation for Other Backward Classes remained unchanged, bringing the combined quota from 50% to 56%. The changes applied to education and government employment. The court held that consultation with the National Commissions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was mandatory before the state made the policy decision.