Supreme Court declines stay on NLSIU decision for 25% Karnataka quota

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday declined to stay the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) Bangalore's decision to horizontally reserve 25 percent of seats for students domiciled in Karnataka.

A bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Ravindra Bhat refused the stay on NLSIU decision and listed the matter for further hearing on August 2.

The Karnataka government has moved the top court challenging the Karnataka High Court judgment which had struck down the 25 percent domicile reservation introduced at the university.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for a petitioner, sought a stay on the NLSIU notification giving effect to the reservation policy. After hearing arguments in the matter, the bench refused to stay the notification. Senior advocate Sajan Poovayya represented NLSIU in the matter.

The university, earlier this week, announced the implementation of the domicile reservation from the academic year 2021-22, as part of its inclusion and expansion plan approved in April/May this year.

The Karnataka High Court, in September last year, had quashed the NLSIU Amendment Act, 2020, through which 25 percent reservation was introduced for students domiciled in the state, holding that it was ultra vires and contrary to the provisions of the parent NLSIU Act. The court had said that state government did not have the power to introduce domicile reservation at the university.

The state government has challenged this, claiming that the High Court erred in observing that NLSIU is not a state institution and thus, not within its control.