NLSIU Domicile Reservation: Karnataka withdraws appeal on domicile quota from Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: Karnataka Government withdrew its plea on Wednesday challenging the High Court's ruling against the National Law School of India (Amendment) Bill 2020, aimed to enforce a 25% reservation for Karnataka domicile students at National Law School of India University (NLSIU) Bengaluru.

Justices PS Narasimha and Pankaj Mithal acknowledged that the issue had been resolved satisfactorily. Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the Karnataka government, requested to withdraw the petition, noting that NLSIU had already voluntarily implemented the 25% domicile reservation, Indian Express reported.

Sankaranarayanan stated that the High Court had likely decided the legal issue against the state's position on the matter. 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 the 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 that amended the National Law School of India Act, 1986. The Statement of Objects and Reasons seeks to “provide for 25% of seats to Karnataka Students in National Law School of India, University Bangalore, NLSIU Bengaluru official website reads.”

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

Earlier this year, NLSIU confirmed it had voluntarily implemented a 25% 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.