Karnataka chief minister DK Shivakumar has said his government will approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek protection for the enhanced reservation for education and jobs under the Constitution’s Ninth Schedule.The remarks come a day after his government filed an appeal against the verdict striking down provisions of a 2022 law to raise reservations for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).Shivakumar said the government was confident it would get relief from the Supreme Court.On October 12, the Karnataka High Court struck down provisions of the law that raised reservations for the SC from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and the ST share from 3 per cent to 7 per cent.A division bench of the high court set aside the enhanced quotas introduced by the BJP government, led by former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, in 2022, ruling that the enhanced quotas raised the state’s overall reservation to 56%, breaching the 50% limit established by the top court in the 1992 Indra Sawhney judgment.”A letter will be sent to the Prime Minister in this regard. If a meeting with the Prime Minister is possible, this matter will be discussed,” Shivakumar told reporters after chairing the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Development Council meeting.He said the responsibility of deciding who should argue on behalf of the State in this legal battle and monitoring the case has been given to Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara, Ministers Satish Jarkiholi, and K.H. Muniyappa.The chief minister also cited Tamil Nadu’s law, which introduced 69 per cent reservation but survived legal challenges because it was included in the Constitution’s Ninth Schedule.Enactments placed under the Ninth Schedule are protected from judicial review.“There is no point in blaming those who were in power earlier on this issue. Decisions have been made on this in a few other states, and Tamil Nadu has 69% reservation. We are only requesting a six-percentage-point extension beyond the 50% reservation limit,” Shivakumar added.He said his government will also write to the Centre, requesting release of Rs 1,937 crore that is pending for 2025-2026 under Centrally-sponsored schemes.