NLSIU’s domicile reservation policy

Source: By Sanath Prasad: The Indian Express

The National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru has recently come under fire from the Karnataka government, advocate association members and Pro Kannada outfits for its controversial “domicile reservation policy.”

In 2021, NLSIU had voluntarily adopted the “Inclusion and Expansion Plan 2021-2025.” In it,  the institution planned to increase the total student intake for both undergraduate and postgraduate law programmes every year and also reserve 25 per cent seats horizontally (compartmentalized) for Karnataka students. This came after the Karnataka High Court struck down the National Law School Amendment Act that aimed to horizontally reserve 25 per cent seats for students of Karnataka, in 2020.

However, on 29 December 2022, the law minister of Karnataka, JC Madhuswamy wrote a letter to the university’s vice chancellor alleging that the institution clubbed the Karnataka students who otherwise were eligible for admissions through All India Rank based on general merit with the domicile category. According to the minister, this disadvantaged those Karnataka students who did not make it to the General Merit List.

What is horizontal and vertical reservation and how does NLSIU apply it?

Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes is referred to as vertical reservation. Horizontal reservation refers to opportunity provided to other categories of beneficiaries such as women, veterans, the transgender community, domicile and individuals with disabilities, cutting through the vertical categories.

NLSIU claims that ‘Karnataka Students’ are admitted to 25 per cent of seats in every vertical category, including General/ SC/ ST/ OBC/ EWS and as a result, constitute at least 25 per cent of the overall student body. The institution also claims that the consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) administers State horizontal reservations in 21 NLUs based on the merit rank list and that NLSIU follows an identical procedure.

Why was domicile reservation introduced?

In 2020, the Karnataka government notified the National Law School of India Amendment Act. This mandates that NLSIU shall horizontally reserve 25 per cent seats for Karnataka domicile students – any student who has studied in any one of the recognized educational institutions in the state for a period of not less than 10 years preceding the qualifying examination. The amendment was made to encourage more graduates from NLSIU to join the Bar in Karnataka.

However, in 2020, the Karnataka High Court struck down this amendment act stating that the state legislature has no power or authority under the Act to direct the Law School to provide reservations for students. The court also held that the law school is an autonomous entity and any form of reservation for students to be admitted to it shall be provided by the Executive Council of the Law School bearing in mind the fact that it is an institution of national importance.

However, despite the Act being struck down, NLSIU voluntarily adopted the ‘Inclusion and Expansion Plan 2021-25.’ This aimed to increase annual student intake, include multidisciplinary approaches in curricula, introduce new reservation categories including the 25 per cent domicile reservation for Karnataka students.

Why is the state government and advocates’ association of Bengaluru opposing NLSIU’s domicile reservation implementation?

Karnataka Law Minister JC Madhuswamy and the Advocates’ Association of Bengaluru argue that the “institution has deceptively merged students who qualify under the All India Quota” and those who gain admission under the domicile reservation category, thus restricting the percentage of students from Karnataka who may gain admission into NLSIU to a maximum of 25 per cent.

For instance, the provisional list for CLAT 2023 released showed that a total of 60 students from Karnataka gained admission through horizontal (compartmentalized) reservation cutting across vertical categories. However, out of the 60 candidates, 19 candidates were also eligible for admission through the All India Rank category. However, they were given seats reserved for domicile candidates instead.

To this, the Advocates’ Association expressed its opposition, claiming “this means that 19 students from Karnataka who deserved admission lost out due to the candidates who were otherwise eligible on general merit basis.”

What is the Advocates’ Association demanding?

Advocates’ association and certain pro Kannada outfits are demanding that any student who is otherwise eligible to claim domicile reservation but qualifies for admission through the All India Rank, should be admitted under the latter category. The Karnataka domicile seats should only be for those who do not obtain a seat through their All India Rank.

They have also appealed to the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud to intervene in his capacity of the ‘Chairman of the Executive Council of NLSIU’ to ensure that the domicile reservation policy followed by NLSIU is in sync with policies in other NLUs and to ensure that the proportion of Karnataka students being admitted to NLSIU is not artificially restricted to 25 per cent.

What next?

While NLSIU has already initiated the admission process for 2023-24 academic year, the state government has approached the Supreme Court of India and has applied a special leave petition, challenging the High Court’s decision that struck down the Amendment Act.

Meanwhile NLSIU has projected that the number of Karnataka students admitted to law programmes at NLSIU will increase to 135 in academic year 2024-25 and 500 in 2026-27, with increases to overall student intake.

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Sovereign Green Bonds

Source: By Hitesh Vyas: The Indian Express

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) auctioned maiden sovereign green bonds (SGrBs) worth Rs 8,000 crore. This is part of the Rs 16,000 crore Sovereign Green Bond auction that the RBI will conduct in the current financial year.

What are Green Bonds?

Green bonds are bonds issued by any sovereign entity, inter-governmental groups or alliances and corporations with the aim that the proceeds of the bonds are utilised for projects classified as environmentally sustainable. The framework for the sovereign green bond was issued by the government on 9 November 2022.

Which green bonds are up for auction today?

The RBI is auctioning two green bonds with tenures of 5 and 10 years, worth Rs 4,000 crore each. The two bonds auctioned today are New GOI SGrB 2028 and New GOI SGrB 2033.

Why are these bonds important?

Over the last few years, Green Bonds have emerged as an important financial instrument to deal with the threats of climate change and related challenges. According to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank Group’s institution, climate change threatens communities and economies, and it poses risks for agriculture, food, and water supplies.

A lot of financing is needed to address these challenges. It’s critical to connect environmental projects with capital markets and investors and channel capital towards sustainable development – and Green Bonds are a way to make that connection.

How beneficial is it for investors?

Green Bonds offer investors a platform to engage in good practices, influencing the business strategy of bond issuers. They provide a means to hedge against climate change risks while achieving at least similar, if not better, returns on their investment. In this way, the growth in Green Bonds and green finance also indirectly works to disincentive high carbon-emitting projects, as per the IFC.

When did the Govt plan these bonds?

In August last year, the government said it stands committed to reduce Emissions Intensity of GDP by 45 per cent from the 2005 level by 2030, and achieve about 50 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by the same year.

In line with the commitment to significantly reduce the carbon intensity of the economy, the Union Budget 2022-23 made an announcement to issue Sovereign Green Bonds.

The country’s climate actions have so far been largely financed from domestic resources and it is now targeting generation of additional global financial resources. The issuance of the Sovereign Green Bonds will help the Indian government in tapping the requisite finance from potential investors for deployment in public sector projects aimed at reducing the carbon intensity of the economy.

Where will the proceeds go?

The government will use the proceeds raised from SGrBs to finance or refinance expenditure (in parts or whole) for various green projects, including in renewable energy, clean transportation, energy efficiency, climate change adaptation, sustainable water and waste management, pollution and prevention control and green buildings. In renewable energy, investments will be made in solar, wind, biomass and hydropower energy projects.