The High Court of Karnataka has struck down the 2022 state law that increased reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice K.S. Hemalekha declared the legislation unconstitutional. The judges ruled that the hike violated the 50% legal ceiling established by the Supreme Court’s landmark Indra Sawhney judgment. The overturned law had pushed Karnataka’s total quota to 56% by raising SC reservations to 17% and ST reservations to 7%. The court emphasized that the Constitution ensures “adequate” rather than exact “proportionate” representation and noted that the state failed to consult the national commissions for SCs and STs before passing the act.