Internal quota Bill: Karnataka Governor asks about Parliament nod for Supreme Court reservation hike

Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has asked the state government to clarify if the Bill providing internal reservation among Scheduled Castes (SC) can be cleared without Parliament first approving the increase in their quota from 15 per cent to 17 per cent in Karnataka. 

This is a crucial clarification that Gehlot has sought from the government, according to a communication from Lok Bhavan to the department of parliamentary affairs & legislature, which DH has seen. 

The Karnataka Scheduled Castes (Sub-Classification) Bill, which Gehlot has returned to the government, divides the 17 per cent SC reservation as per a 6-6-5 formula. 

Madigas and 15 affiliated castes get 6 per cent (Group A), Holeyas and 18 affiliated castes also get 6 per cent (Group B), and Lambani, Bhovi, Korma, Korcha and 59 'most backward' communities get 5% (Group C).

The SC/ST quota in the state was hiked in 2022 by the then Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government. The SC reservation went up from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and the ST quota from 3 per cent to 7 per cent. This took the total quantum of reservations to 56 per cent, breaching the 50 per cent cap fixed by the Supreme Court in the landmark Indira Sawhney case.

There have been calls to bring this under Schedule 9 of the Constitution, which will require a decision in Parliament. 

On December 2, the high court barred the government from making fresh recruitment as per the 56 per cent reservation in the state. This has left the government worried about the ramifications, legal and political.     

Gehlot said he had received "detailed objections" to the internal quota Bill from Shamarao K Pawar, president, Akhila Karnataka Association for Welfare of Banjara, Bhovi, Korcha & Korma Samaj (Kalaburagi); Valya Naik, president, Association for Welfare of Banjara, Bhovi Korcha & Korma Samaj (Harapanahalli), and the Karnataka Advocate Forum for Social Justice (Mysuru). 

According to Gehlot, these petitioners have informed him that the government has not "assessed the historical backwardness of each caste among the 101 [SC] castes and requested me to reject the said Bill, until unless Parliament approved the increase of reservation from 15 per cent to 17 per cent". 

Gehlot stated the issues raised by the petitioners "are sensitive in nature" and they need to be addressed.

It is said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is likely to convene a meeting with ministers and officials to discuss the matter.