Ugrappa asks Centre to shield Karnataka's SC/ST quota hike under Ninth Schedule

Congress leader V.S. Ugrappa has urged the Union government to place Karnataka's law enhancing reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, so that it is protected from judicial scrutiny.

Speaking at a press conference in Shivamogga on Thursday, Mr. Ugrappa said the State government had raised reservation for Scheduled Castes by two percentage points and for Scheduled Tribes by four percentage points, on the basis of population data. The State had then written to the Union government requesting that the amendment be brought under the Ninth Schedule.

According to Mr. Ugrappa, the Centre has not acted on that request, leaving the revised quota open to challenge in court. The Karnataka High Court subsequently quashed the enhanced reservation, he said.

Questioning the Centre's silence, he said, “The Prime Minister responds to letters written by schoolchildren on his Mann Ki Baat programme. Why can’t he respond to a serious issue concerning the larger public of Karnataka?”

He criticised Bharatiya Janata Party leaders for what he described as their silence on the matter and held the party responsible for the present situation. “Members of Parliament from Karnataka should exert pressure on the Union government and ensure that the amendment is included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution,” he said.

Mr. Ugrappa appealed to members of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes to raise their voices in support of the demand. He also urged political leaders, religious seers and actors to speak out on the issue.

“Unless collective efforts are made to address this issue, young people aspiring for jobs and seats in educational institutions will face difficulties,” he added.

The Union government has not publicly commented on the demand. The press conference did not include any response from the BJP to the allegations made against it.

What the Ninth Schedule does

The Ninth Schedule was added to the Constitution by the First Amendment in 1951, along with Article 31B. Its purpose was to protect certain laws, mainly land reform measures, from being struck down by courts on the ground that they violated fundamental rights. Over the decades, successive governments have added many laws to the Schedule, including those relating to reservation.

In its 2007 judgment in I.R. Coelho v. State of Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court held that laws placed in the Ninth Schedule after 24 April 1973 are not automatically immune from review. Such laws can be examined to see whether they violate the basic structure of the Constitution. This means inclusion in the Schedule offers substantial, but not absolute, protection.

The demand raised by Mr. Ugrappa therefore touches on two questions: whether reservation laws should be insulated from court review, and how quickly the Centre should act on a State's request for such protection.

Reservation policy in Karnataka, as elsewhere, has been the subject of repeated litigation, with courts examining questions of proportionate representation, the ceiling on total reservation laid down in earlier Supreme Court decisions, and the adequacy of data used to justify changes. The State's decision to base the enhanced quota on population figures was part of an effort to meet those legal tests.

For now, the matter rests with the Union government, which has not indicated whether it will accept the State's request. Political leaders in Karnataka are likely to keep up the pressure as the issue affects access to government jobs and educational seats for a large section of the population.