# Karnataka HC quashes 2022 law raising SC, ST quota above 50% 2026-10-13T00:37:56+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 3 independent outlets (5 source reports) Karnataka High Court on Monday, 12 October struck down key provisions of a 2022 state law that raised reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes beyond the 50 per cent ceiling set by the Supreme Court in the 1992 Indra Sawhney case. A bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice K.S. Hemalekha declared Section 3 of the Karnataka SC and ST (Reservation in Educational Institutions and Appointments in State Services) Act, 2022 unconstitutional for violating Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution. Section 4, which dealt with increased quota in state services, was struck down for violating Articles 14 and 16. The law, passed under the then BJP government of Basavaraj Bommai and notified on 12 January 2023, had raised SC reservation from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and ST reservation from 3 per cent to 7 per cent, pushing total SC, ST and OBC quota from 50 per cent to 56 per cent. The court rejected the state government’s argument that the quota increase was justified because over 90 per cent of the state’s population belongs to SC, ST and OBC communities. Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara said the government respects the judiciary and will explore all legal options, including an appeal in the Supreme Court. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The coverage of the Karnataka High Court verdict is uniformly factual, with all outlets reporting the same core facts: the court struck down the 2022 law that raised SC and ST quotas above the 50 per cent ceiling. Amar Ujala and TV9 Hindi lead with the legal reasoning, while Aaj Tak adds detail on the petitions filed by Dr. Ambedkar SC Sangh and three civil engineering graduates. Aaj Tak alone quotes Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara’s criticism of the previous BJP government’s ‘political responsibility’ and the Centre’s ‘inaction’, and also cites former CM Siddaramaiah’s statement calling the verdict a blow to marginalised communities, both framing the Section 3 and 4 struck down on Monday, 12 October. The next step is the state government’s consideration of an appeal in the Supreme Court. ## Coverage Coverage: 5 sources, 2 government-critical, 3 neutral - amarujala.com (neutral report) Leads with 50 per cent ceiling violation, no political comment - aajtak.in (government critical) Adds detailed petition background and opposition political reactions - tv9hindi.com (neutral report) Focuses on court’s constitutional reasoning and state government's next steps - aajtak.in (2) (government critical) Explains basis of quota hike but includes critical political statements - tv9hindi.com (2) (neutral report) Compares with MP high court ruling, argues legal basis was lacking This brief was synthesised by AI from the 5 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Update, 14 October 2026: this story now draws on 5 sources. Last updated 2026-10-14T02:13:52+00:00. Tags: G Parameshwara, Karnataka, Karnataka High Court, Supreme Court Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/karnataka-hc-quashes-2022-law-raising-sc-st-quota-above-50/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/karnataka-hc-quashes-2022-law-raising-sc-st-quota-above-50/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/