Karnataka High Court Strikes Down SC/ST Quota Hike: The 50% Ceiling Is a Binding Constitutional Rule
The High Court of Karnataka struck down Sections 3 and 4 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, declaring them ultra vires (beyond the powers given by) the Constitution.
The Act, effective from 1 November 2022, had raised reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs) from 15% to 17% and for Scheduled Tribes (STs) from 3% to 7%. With Other Backward Classes (OBCs) at 32%, total reservation in the State rose from 50% to 56%.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice K.S. Hemalekha held, in a 170-page judgment, that the 50% ceiling laid down in Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992) is not just a "rule of prudence" but a binding constitutional principle.
The Court rejected the State's argument that the 103rd Constitutional Amendment (10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections, EWS) had wiped out the 50% rule. It said the EWS quota is carved out of the general (open) pool and does not let a State push backward class reservation above 50%.
The verdict came on a batch of petitions, including a public interest litigation and a challenge by civil engineering graduates to recruitment in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) under the increased quota.
Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992): The 50% Ceiling Rule
Indra Sawhney v. Union of India, often called the Mandal case, is the most important Supreme Court judgment on reservation. A nine-judge bench, deciding on 16 November 1992 by a 6:3 majority, upheld 27% reservation for OBCs in central government jobs. It also laid down that total reservation should not normally exceed 50%, except in extraordinary situations, such as for people living in far-flung and remote areas who are outside the mainstream.
The Karnataka High Court applied Indra Sawhney strictly. It held that the 50% ceiling limits the State's power "notwithstanding the numerical strength of the backward classes", and that Karnataka had shown no extraordinary circumstance to justify going to 56%.
103rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019: EWS Reservation
The 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019 allows up to 10% reservation in government jobs and in admissions to educational institutions for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of citizens. These are poor people who are not covered by any existing reservation, that is, they are not SCs, STs or OBCs. This was the first time India allowed reservation on the basis of economic condition alone, instead of social and educational backwardness.
Karnataka argued that the 103rd Amendment had removed the 50% ceiling, because total reservation now crosses 50% wherever EWS is given. The High Court disagreed: the EWS quota comes out of the open pool, and the 50% ceiling still limits reservation for backward classes, including SCs and STs.
The Ninth Schedule: Laws Shielded from Court Challenge
The Ninth Schedule is a list of laws attached to the Constitution. Laws placed in it are protected by Article 31B from being struck down on the ground that they violate Fundamental Rights. It was created so that important land reform laws could not be cancelled by courts. Today it has 284 laws, but since 2007 its protection is no longer complete: laws added after 24 April 1973 can still be tested against the basic structure of the Constitution.
Karnataka's quota law was an ordinary State law, not placed in the Ninth Schedule, so the High Court could test it directly against Articles 14, 15 and 16 and the Indra Sawhney ceiling. Even if a State's law were placed in the Ninth Schedule, the I.R. Coelho ruling means courts could still review it, as a post-1973 entry, against the basic structure, which includes the equality principle the High Court relied on.
- Provisions struck down: Sections 3 and 4 of the Karnataka SC and ST (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Posts in the Services under the State) Act, 2022
- Act effective from 1 November 2022: SC 15% to 17%, ST 3% to 7%; OBC 32% unchanged; total 50% to 56%
- Bench: Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice K.S. Hemalekha; 170-page judgment
- Court: 50% ceiling is a "binding constitutional principle", not a mere rule of prudence
- EWS quota (103rd Amendment, 2019) is carved from the general pool and does not lift the ceiling for backward classes
- Indra Sawhney (1992): nine judges, 6:3; 50% ceiling except in extraordinary situations
- Janhit Abhiyan (7 November 2022): EWS upheld 3:2
- Jaishri Laxmanrao Patil (5 May 2021): Maratha reservation struck down for crossing 50%
- Patna High Court (20 June 2024): Bihar's 65% reservation struck down
- Tamil Nadu: 69% reservation protected through the Ninth Schedule (76th Amendment, 1994)
- Ninth Schedule: 284 laws; post-24 April 1973 additions reviewable (I.R. Coelho, 2007)