VENKATESHA S/O SIDDALINGAPPA AND OTHERS Vs. THE STATE OF KARNATAKA, REPRESENTED BY SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT, DEPARTMENT OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS AND LEGISLATION, STATE OF KARNATAKA, REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND PANCHAYAT RAJ

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Petitioners have called into question Karnataka Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Ordinance 2010 (Karnataka Ordinance No. 3/2010) insofar as it imposes 50% ceiling on reservation for persons belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes (S. Cs, S. Ts and B. Cs respectively).

(2.) SRI Ravivarma Kumar, the learned Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of the Petitioners submits that the cause of social justice would suffer if the upper ceiling of 50% reservation in favour of S. Cs, S. Ts and B. Cs is imposed, as is being done by the impugned Ordinance. He brings to my notice, the provisions contained in Article 243D(1) and (6) of the Constitution of India. They are extracted hereinbelow:

(3.) BASED on the afore -extracted constitutional and statutory provisions, he submits that the reservation for persons belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has to be strictly in proportion to their population percentage in any district. What follows from the constitutional and statutory prescription and the impugned Ordinance is that if in any district, the persons belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe constitute 50% of the total population of that district, then the B. Cs do not get any reservation. Therefore, he would urge that the imposition of the cap of 50% be struck off.