The Karnataka High Court, sitting with Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice K S Hemalekha, held that the 2022 Act’s provisions that lifted SC reservation to 17% and ST reservation to 7% breached the 50‑per‑cent ceiling imposed by the Supreme Court in Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992). The bench declared Sections 3 and 4 unconstitutional, citing violations of Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution that protect equality and non‑discrimination.
The Act, passed by the BJP‑led state government under Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, received Governor’s assent on January 11, 2023, and was published in the Karnataka Gazette the next day. It followed recommendations from the Justice (Retd) Nagamohan Das Commission and a committee chaired by former High Court judge Justice Subhash B Adi.
Two petitions challenged the law’s validity: one filed by Mahendra Kumar Mitra, president of the Dr Ambedkar Scheduled Castes Federation, and another by civil‑engineering graduates Sagar H R, Prajwal Kumar D and Purushotham Gowda G M, who were denied Assistant Engineer (Civil) positions in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. The court found the overall reservation had risen from 50% to 56%, exceeding the constitutional ceiling.
Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara condemned the ruling as a blow to social justice, urging the Centre to review the 50‑per‑cent limit and to consider Karnataka’s request for Ninth Schedule inclusion. He said the government would pursue an appeal before the Supreme Court while safeguarding current recruitment and admission processes under existing law.