Dalit groups and leaders slam Karnataka High Court ruling on quota hike

Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe community members and leaders in Karnataka have expressed deep disappointment over the High Court verdict striking down their enhanced reservation. Basavaraj Kowthal, who convenes the Forum for Justice for Scheduled Castes, called it unfair to sacrifice the share of SC and ST communities to keep a 50% limit.

Reactions and Criticisms

Mr. Kowthal suggested that OBC quotas, currently at 32% due to political equations, could be lowered to 27% to raise the SC and ST share to 24%. He also questioned why the Union government did not add the 2022 law to the Ninth Schedule for legal protection, despite bringing in a 10% EWS quota. The law itself was introduced by the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government in 2023. Furthermore, Mr. Kowthal criticized the Congress government for not exerting enough pressure on the Centre, despite former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah writing to the Union government about Ninth Schedule inclusion.

Legal Steps and Arguments

Former MP and Congress leader V.S. Ugrappa noted that the 2011 Census counts the SC population in Karnataka at roughly 17.1% and the ST population at 7%. He added that reports by Justice Nagmohan Das and Justice Subhash B. Adi showed inadequate representation for SCs, STs, and OBCs in education and jobs, pointing out that the court failed to consider these aspects. Mr. Ugrappa suggested two permanent remedies: adding the law to the Ninth Schedule like Tamil Nadu did, or filing a special leave petition in the Supreme Court. D. Chandraiah from The Karnataka State SC/ST Employees' Association stated that the association will implead itself as a litigant in the Supreme Court and submit a joint memorandum on Thursday to the Cabinet Sub-Committee on backlog vacancies. He argued that the court was inconsistent in ruling that a 6% hike for SC and ST violated the 50% cap while the 10% EWS quota did not, and faulted the government for failing to convince the court with empirical data on backwardness.

Context

Reservation policies in India involve balancing social justice aims with judicial ceilings on total quotas, leading to frequent legal challenges when state laws exceed established limits. The Ninth Schedule of the Constitution provides a protective shield for certain laws from judicial review, though such inclusions remain politically and legally sensitive. Community groups often rely on judicial appeals and legislative pressure to defend enhanced affirmative action measures.