Karnataka HC halts new recruitment under law raising SC-ST quota

The Karnataka High Court has stopped the state government from issuing new recruitment notifications under the law that increased reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The bar will stay in effect until the court gives further directions on the matter.

The order applies to the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Reservation of Seats in Education Institutions and Appointments in State Services Act, 2022.

The court has permitted the government to continue with recruitment drives announced before Nov 19, even if those notifications were issued with the revised reservation percentages.

The Bench has also made it clear that appointments made through these ongoing selections will depend on the final ruling in the cases challenging the law.

The interim decision was delivered by Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C M Poonacha while hearing two PILs submitted by Mahendra Kumar Mitra from Raichur and Mahesh from Bengaluru.

The petitions dispute the legality of the 2022 law, focusing on the jump in quotas from 15% to 17% for Scheduled Castes and from 3% to 7% for Scheduled Tribes.

Reservation for Other Backward Classes remains at 32%, pushing the total quota in the state to 56%.

The court has directed that any appointment or promotion issued under the law must specify that it is provisional and tied to the court’s final verdict.

This prevents individuals from seeking equity if the enhanced reservation is later invalidated.

The judges further noted that this allowance for ongoing recruitments will not supersede any interim or final orders already issued by other courts or tribunals on related disputes.

The state had earlier told the court that stopping recruitments already in progress would affect administrative functioning due to staff shortages.

The petitioners have also argued that the increased reservation violates the 50% cap outlined by the Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney ruling and that the state did not consult the National Commissions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as required under Articles 338(9) and 338A(9) of the Constitution.