NLSIU Domicile Reservation: Karnataka Withdraws Plea on Quota from SC

Justices PS Narasimha and Pankaj Mithal noted that the matter had been resolved satisfactorily. Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the Karnataka government, requested to withdraw the petition, pointing out that NLSIU had already voluntarily implemented the 25 per cent domicile reservation.

The Karnataka Government withdrew its plea on Wednesday challenging the High Court's ruling against the National Law School of India (Amendment) Bill 2020, which sought to enforce a 25 per cent reservation for Karnataka domicile students at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in Bengaluru.

Justices PS Narasimha and Pankaj Mithal noted that the matter had been resolved satisfactorily. Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the Karnataka government, requested to withdraw the petition, pointing out that NLSIU had already voluntarily implemented the 25 per cent domicile reservation, as per the media reports.

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan stated that the High Court likely ruled against the state's position on the legal issue. Given this probable outcome and the university's independent decision, pursuing the appeal further in the Supreme Court was deemed unnecessary.

The Supreme Court was addressing an appeal against a Karnataka High Court ruling that questioned the state's mandate for NLSIU to implement domicile reservation, considering its autonomous status.

NLSIU Amendment Bill

On April 27, 2020, the Government of Karnataka enacted the National Law School of India (Amendment) Act, 2020, which amended the National Law School of India Act, 1986. The Statement of Objects and Reasons seeks to "provide for 25 per cent of seats to Karnataka Students in National Law School of India, University Bangalore," according to the NLSIU Bengaluru official website.

This Amendment Act inserted a new section 4(3) which states: "Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act and the regulations made thereunder, the school shall reserve horizontally 25 percent of seats for students of Karnataka."

Earlier this year, NLSIU confirmed it had voluntarily implemented a 25 per cent horizontal reservation for Karnataka students as part of its inclusion and expansion plan starting in 2021 for a five-year period.

The Supreme Court declined to halt NLSIU's decision. Given these developments, the state chose to withdraw its appeal. Notably, four Supreme Court judges — Justices Hrishikesh Roy, Aniruddha Bose, Abdul Nazeer, and former Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit — had recused themselves from hearing the case.

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