Karnataka HC directs law university to reserve seats for transgender students in LLB

The Karnataka High Court on Monday ordered the Karnataka State Law University (KSLU) to provide reservation for transgender persons in its three-year LLB course, and to lower the eligibility criteria for them.

A division bench of Justices Anu Shivaraman and Venkatesh Naik T stated that the Supreme Court's 2014 judgment in the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) v. Union of India case clearly directs reservation in educational admissions. The court directed KSLU to include this reservation in its forthcoming admission notification.

The order arose from an appeal by the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) against a single-judge order that had directed it to provide reservation to a transgender student. The student had approached the court in 2023 after NLSIU denied him admission to the LLB course for the 2023-24 academic year.

The bench further directed KSLU to reduce the eligibility criteria for transgender applicants by at least 2% or to the lowest among existing categories, whichever is more beneficial. KSLU's counsel informed the court that it had already directed BMS College of Law and Seshadripuram Law College to reserve a seat for the student.

Additional Advocate-General Reuben Jacob, appearing for the state, said that the Karnataka State Women Development Corporation had conducted a survey on reservation for transgender persons in education. He suggested that the corporation could submit a proposal to the government. Jacob added that the state government would consider the issue and pass suitable orders, noting that a 1% horizontal reservation already exists for transgender persons in employment.

In an earlier interim order, the court had directed NLSIU to admit the transgender student if found eligible. The single-judge's final order on December 16, 2024, had directed NLSIU to implement the NALSA judgment by formulating a reservation policy, providing financial aid, and offering a 0.5% interim reservation with a fee waiver.

NLSIU challenged that order before the division bench. During the hearing, NLSIU told the court it could not admit the student. The court then directed the government and KSLU to explore options for financial aid and admission to any law college in the state. Justice Sivaraman remarked, 'He has already lost three years; we do not want him to lose another year.'

The court will hear the appeal next on August 3.