The Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government’s timing to announce its decision to enhance the reservations for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) is being seen as having been taken hurriedly with a focus on the Karnataka elections due next year.
The circumstances under which the chief minister took the decision are quite interesting. The political expediency arose from the fact that Congress’s Rahul Gandhi at the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra spoke about implementing the Justice Nagamohan Das Commission report on widening reservations for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
The very next day, Karnataka’s leader of the opposition and former chief minister Siddaramaiah had to leave the yatra to attend the all-party meeting called to decide on increasing reservations. Shortly afterwards, the Bommai cabinet accepted the recommendations of the Justice Das-led commission, which had been set up by the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition when it was in power in 2018-19. The panel submitted its report in July 2020 which recommended increasing reservations for SC and STs.
Numbers game
The state cabinet decided to issue an executive order to immediately hike the reservation for SCs by 2 per cent (from 15 per cent to 17 per cent) and STs by 4 per cent (from 3 per cent to 7 per cent), even though it breached the 50 per cent cap laid down by the Supreme Court.
Calling it a “historic decision”, the BJP also made the political move on the eve of Valmiki Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Maharishi Valmiki, who is considered an icon of the politically powerful ST community Valmiki Nayakas. It is seen as a move to ensure the BJP retains the support of the community, which the Congress has been trying to win over as this ST community, which is the largest in the state among the nearly 52 tribes, has largely backed the Bharatiya Janata Party.
This decision incidentally also comes at a time when the Congress’s Bharat Jodo Yatra enters the districts of Chitradurga, Ballari, and Raichur, which are known as strongholds of the Nayaka community.
“The breach of the 50 per cent ceiling is possible and can be justified by the Karnataka government by showing there are exceptional circumstances. It can be made fool-proof as well if the government has the will to do so. It can be made a constitutionally acceptable policy,” Prof Ravivarma Kumar, advocate general for Karnataka Commission, told News18.
Court test
CM Bommai is confident that the state’s law minister and department, legal and constitutional experts, and advocate general will be able to bring the cabinet’s decision under the protection of the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution and beyond judicial scrutiny. For this, the BJP government at the Centre would have to push for a constitutional amendment.
“The Ninth Schedule has its own procedure. It’s a constitutional amendment, which takes its own time. We are sure we will pass the legal test,” the chief minister said.
However, in 1994, Karnataka’s policy of providing up to 73 per cent reservation had been struck down by the Supreme Court in the absence of empirical data to substantiate the need.
Speaking to News18, Justice Nagamohan Das said that paragraph 810 of the top court’s Indra Sawhney case order says that the 50 per cent cap is a rule but, in exceptional circumstances, it can be relaxed.
“The SC order clearly states that care and caution must be used in exercising these exceptional circumstances. Therefore, the 50 per cent ceiling can be relaxed in exceptional circumstances and if we make out a case for exceptional circumstances, where is the question of breach of the SC judgement?” he explained, while stating that most people have not read the full judgement and need to understand the minute details. He said that in 2019, the Government of India provided ten per cent reservation to economically weaker sections in the general category.
“With that, the total reservation in central services has gone up from 49.5 per cent to 59.5 per cent. If the central government can cross the limit, why not the state? Nine states have crossed the 50 per cent ceiling, so why not Karnataka,” he added.
Quota unquote
There are 102 castes in the SC category and over 50 in the ST list in Karnataka’s 67 million population. Currently in the state, the overall Other Backward Class (OBC) reservation tally stands at 32 per cent which includes 4 per cent of Backward Tribes who have been classified as Category I, 15 per cent Other Backward Castes classified as Category II-A, 4 per cent Muslims classified as Category II-B, Backward communities like Vokkaligas and others under Category III-A which is pegged at 4 per cent, and Lingayats classified under Category III-B with 5 per cent. The Scheduled Caste quota is at 5 per cent and Scheduled Tribes at 3 per cent, taking the total to 50 per cent as capped by the apex court. With the hike in SC-ST reservations as announced, the reservation tally in Karnataka will go up to 56 per cent.
“We are ready to take this fight to the courts as our case has merit. We will make our case in front of the Supreme Court and we have enough examples from other states to back our decision. Until now, no court has ordered against their decisions so when we can argue a solid case, why not?” a senior BJP minister told News18.
The Bommai government will be banking on the decisions made by states like Tamil Nadu (69 per cent), Maharashtra (68 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (60 per cent), Jharkhand (70 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (73 per cent), and Rajasthan (64 per cent), among others.
A caste study commissioned by the Siddaramaiah government at a cost of Rs 160 crore remains in cold storage. It was first conducted under the Kantharaju Commission, but the recommendations made were not accepted by the Congress government. It continues to remain undisclosed to date and neither the ruling BJP nor the Congress seems to want to divulge the details of this controversial survey.
CS Dwarakanath, former chairperson of the backward classes commission, said that Karnataka is the only state in the country that has conducted this caste census.
Others in quota queue
Other communities, meanwhile, are upping their ante seeking an increase in quota or reservation-related demands. Communities like the Veerashaiva Panchamasali Lingayats who are presently classified under Category III-B, are seeking to be classified under the more backward Category II-A of the OBCs. The Halumatha Kuruba community, which is currently in the II-A category of the OBCs, is seeking to be recognised as a Scheduled Tribe. The Vokkaligas want to be added to the central OBC list.
“We have demands from different communities to enhance their quotas. We have made this decision after careful consideration and scrutiny. Quota demands will not be considered if they are not backed with empirical data and a proper scientific report,” said Karnataka’s law minister JC Madhu Swamy.
Senior BJP leader and former Karnataka law minister Suresh Kumar told News18 that the state government should further study future demands that may arise similarly from other groups.
“The state government should also constitute a committee of expert lawyers to study the strengths of the case that will help us stand the legal test,” he said.
“We are not going to touch the existing quota but we are going to increase the reservations beyond 50 per cent. It may affect the general category to some extent but we are not going to touch the quotas of the OBC,” Madhuswamy said.
Spearheading the demand for the Panchamasali Lingayats is seer Sri Basava Jaya Mrutyunjaya Swami of the Panchamasali Peetha in Kudalasangama, and he has warned the Bommai government that those who are supporting the movement will lay siege to the Vidhana Soudha in the second week of November if an all-party meeting to discuss the demands is not held.
According to Ravivarma Kumar, the demand by the Veerashaiva Panchamasali to be categorised under the more backward category is unjustified. He further explained that the Veerashaiva Lingayats have already been given special treatment under the III-B OBC category.
“The Panchamasalis have been certified as a forward community by every commission set up in Karnataka. They are a community that has enjoyed the fruits of political power, educational advancement, and representation in government service. The Chinnappa Reddy Commission report which is recommended by all SC judgements as a model report also certifies the entire Lingayat community as an advanced community. It is therefore impermissible to add them to a more backward list when they have been certified as forward,” he said.
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes stand on different footing because of the parameters under which they are considered. To be classified under the SC category, the community would have to have suffered the impact of untouchability. For the ST category, said the former advocate general, five parameters need to be considered: indications of primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with the community at large, and backwardness.
On whether this is similar to the reservations sought by the Marathas of Maharashtra, Justice Nagamohan Das clarified it was not the same.
“The reservation sought by the Marathas is completely different from the one sought in Karnataka. Marathas do not fall either in the SC or ST category. There was no empirical data to back the demand of the Marathas and that is why it was struck down by the Supreme Court,” he explained.
“In the case of the Marathas, they had legislation in their favour while seeking reservation, but the Veerashaiva Lingayats are seeking reservation with no legislation in their favour,” Ravivarma Kumar added.
‘Need dialogue and discussion’
On whether hiking the reservation for SCs and STs will open a Pandora’s box for the BJP government, Suresh Kumar feels that there is a need to hold more dialogue between community leaders demanding quotas to understand their concerns.
“There is a need for mutual dialogue and discussion. The demands by the communities should also be backed with empirical data and the socio-economic need that supports their demand for reservation,” the former minister said.
A demand from Dharwad West MLA Arvind Bellad created a new controversy. The leader has written to CM Bommai, stating that reservations given to Muslims and Christians under the OBC category must be removed and that the quota should be given to the Panchamasali Lingayats instead. He argues that reservations, as per the Constitution, should be offered based on caste and not religion.
“Reservation that was supposed to be given to OBCs was given to Muslims and Christians by the previous Congress government. These communities are already getting enough funds for their development from the central and state governments through minority ministries…To set right the injustice done to the OBCs, we should curtail the reservations given to Muslims and Christians in the OBC quota. Instead, those reservations should be given to Lingayat Panchamasali, other sects of Lingayat communities, Kuruba (shepherd), and other communities,” Bellad said in his letter to Bommai on Tuesday.
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