[Exclusive]: Domicile reservation at NLSIU soon to be a reality: Karnataka Law Minister JC Madhuswamy speaks to Bar & Bench

As reported earlier, the BS Yeddyurappa government in Karnataka is planning to introduce an amendment to the National Law School of India University Act to enable domicile reservation of 25% for local residents at the University..Bar & Bench spoke to State Law Minister JC Madhuswamy, who will introduce the Bill during the next session of the Assembly, scheduled to start on February 5, 2020. He revealed,.“Apart from the vertical reservation for SC/STs, we are planning to introduce 25% reservation to locals who have studied for more than 10 years in Karnataka. The Cabinet has already cleared the Bill.”Karnataka Law Minister JC Madhuswamy.Defending the move to introduce the domicile reservation at NLSIU, Madhuswamy went on to say,“This Bill has been there since the previous government. The previous government wanted to give 50% reservation for locals in the Law School. The Governor had rejected this proposal. Therefore, to avoid confrontation, we have amended and asked for 25% institutional reservation for students who have studied for 10 years in Karnataka.There is domicile reservation in other National Law Schools, IIMs, and therefore, it is important to introduce this Bill. When all central institutions have reservation for locals, why resist for Karnataka?”.On the proposal to introduce vertical reservation for students belonging to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities in the state, he said,“Law is clear that SC/ST reservation has to be given on par with the population of the state. Even the SC/ST reservations have been taken by students belonging to other states, which is against the object of this reservation. We are not touching that today.”.The Law Minister went on to reveal that the proposal was not met with opposition from the Governing Council of the University, headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde.“I had raised this issue before the Governing Council of NLSIU, which was chaired by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde. This issue was also mentioned in the minutes of the Governing Council. The CJI had then said let’s constitute a committee and work out the modalities. There was no objection to this proposal,” said the Law Minister..The National Law School of India (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was introduced in December last year, two years after a similar move to introduce state domicile reservation at NLSIU failed to see the light of day..The 2017 Bill had aimed to provide for 50% reservation for local students of the state.However, the proposal was rejected and sent back by then Governor, Vajubhai Vala on technical grounds..The 2017 Bill was met with opposition from both students and alumni of NLSIU. The law school's founding Vice-Chancellor, the late Prof Madhava Menon, were amongst those who opposed the move..As per the University website, there are presently 80 seats for the BA.LL.B. (Hons.) programme at NLSIU. Out of the same, 57 are for General Category applicants. 12 seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste students, while 6 seats are reserved for students from the Scheduled Tribe community. 5 seats are reserved for foreign nationals.