19 October 2026
Justice M.G.S. Kamal of the Karnataka High Court upheld the constitutional validity of Sections 20A, 20B and 20C of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, inserted by the 2010 Amendment Act. Under these provisions the prohibited area extends 100 metres in all directions from a centrally protected monument, and the regulated area extends a further 200 metres beginning at the limit of the prohibited area. The ruling came in Writ Petition No. 10451 of 2018 (GM-RES), filed by B.R. Ramakrishna, whose application to build on a vacant portion of his land was rejected by the Archaeological Survey of India. The land lies about 59 metres from the outer perimeter wall of Madhugiri Fort, a centrally protected monument of the Vijayanagara and Nayak eras, which placed it within the prohibited area. The court rejected the argument that the restrictions amount to expropriation requiring compensation. It partly allowed the petition because the Archaeological Survey of India documents did not show how the 59 metre distance had been established, and directed the authorities to reconsider the representation after a fresh survey of the area within three months.
Prohibited area:
100 metres in all directions
Regulated area:
a further 200 metres
Distance of the petitioner's land:
about 59 metres
Monument:
Madhugiri Fort
Writ petition:
Writ Petition No. 10451 of 2018 (GM-RES)
Why it matters for exams: The hundred and two hundred metre limits under the 2010 amendment to the Ancient Monuments Act are a standard heritage law question.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
AMASR Act Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 — The central law protecting monuments of national importance and regulating construction around them.
ASI Archaeological Survey of India — The central body that protects and maintains monuments of national importance.
12 October 2026
A Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice K.S. Hemalekha struck down Sections 3 and 4 of the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation) Act, 2022. Section 3 was struck down insofar as it takes aggregate reservation beyond the 50 per cent ceiling, which the bench held violates Articles 14 and 15. Section 4 was held to violate Articles 14 and 16. Under the Act, reservation for Scheduled Castes had been raised from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and for Scheduled Tribes from 3 per cent to 7 per cent, while reservation for Other Backward Classes remained at 32 per cent, taking the aggregate from 50 per cent to 56 per cent. The Act was deemed effective from 1 November 2022 and had replaced an Ordinance. The ruling came in WP No. 200448 of 2025, Mahendra Kumar Mitra v. Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and Others, a public interest petition in which Mahendra Kumar Mitra appeared in person, along with petitions by three civil engineering graduates. Also in question were a Karnataka Public Service Commission notification dated 13 March 2024 that reserved 51 of 92 Assistant Engineer posts in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, and a Government Order dated 28 December 2022 prescribing roster points. Senior Advocate Prof. Ravivarma Kumar appeared for a respondent and Senior Advocate Ruben Jacob for the Karnataka Public Service Commission.
Aggregate reservation struck down:
56 per cent
Ceiling upheld:
50 per cent
Scheduled Castes:
15 per cent raised to 17 per cent
Scheduled Tribes:
3 per cent raised to 7 per cent
Other Backward Classes:
32 per cent
Writ petition:
WP No. 200448 of 2025
Why it matters for exams: The fifty per cent reservation ceiling and Articles 14, 15 and 16 are among the most frequently asked polity topics.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
BBMP Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike — The municipal body for Bengaluru whose Assistant Engineer posts were in question.
Roster point Roster point — A fixed position in a recruitment sequence assigned to a reserved category.
12 October 2026
The Karnataka government notified Standard Operating Procedures for Early Identification and Timely Response to Underage Pregnancies, applicable across the state, and Justice S. Sunil Dutt Yadav of the Karnataka High Court disposed of the petition that had led to it, saying the matter does not call for further adjudication. The petition under Article 226 was filed by the mother of a sixteen year old sexual assault survivor and is reported as 2026:KHC:56135. Under the protocol the police must facilitate emergency medical care and examination within 24 hours, and must register a Zero FIR where jurisdiction lies elsewhere. DNA samples and products of conception must be sent to the forensic laboratory within 7 days, or within 24 hours if the laboratory is in the same district. Doctors must give immediate care and must not delay treatment for an FIR, a legal requisition or a magisterial direction, and must perform prescribed termination procedures free of cost. For a pregnancy below 24 weeks no court or Child Welfare Committee order is required; above 24 weeks the Medical Board must give its opinion within 3 days when directed. Child Welfare Committees must facilitate within 1 week below 20 weeks and within 2 days of the Medical Board's or the court's opinion above 20 weeks. The Karnataka State Legal Services Authority must assign at least 5 lawyers each at Bengaluru, Dharwad and Kalaburagi, who must file urgent petitions within 48 hours of being informed in cases above 24 weeks. Advocate Swagatha Raha was Amicus Curiae and Additional Advocate General Prathima Honnapura appeared for the State.
Emergency examination window:
within 24 hours
Forensic samples:
within 7 days, or 24 hours in the same district
Medical Board opinion above 24 weeks:
within 3 days
Lawyers to be assigned:
at least 5 each at Bengaluru, Dharwad and Kalaburagi
Citation:
2026:KHC:56135
Why it matters for exams: The twenty four week threshold under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act and the role of Child Welfare Committees are examinable law and welfare topics.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Zero FIR Zero FIR — A first information report registered by any police station regardless of jurisdiction, then transferred to the station concerned.
CWC Child Welfare Committee — The statutory body under the Juvenile Justice Act that decides on the care and protection of children.
Background
Kalaburagi is one of the three places, with Bengaluru and Dharwad, where the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority must assign at least five lawyers each under the state's new protocol on underage pregnancies, which is why the district's size and reach matter today. The district administration records its area as 10,951 square kilometres. It was one of three districts transferred from Hyderabad State to Karnataka during the 1956 reorganisation of states, and is one of Karnataka's 30 districts. At the 2011 Census its population was 2,564,892, with a density of 233 inhabitants per square kilometre, a sex ratio of 962 females per 1,000 males and a literacy rate of 65.65 per cent. The district has seven talukas: Afzalpur, Aland, Chincholi, Chittapur, Kalaburagi, Jewargi and Sedam. The Krishna and the Bhima are its rivers. Its crops include bajra, toor, sugarcane, groundnut, sunflower, sesame, castor bean, black gram, jowar, wheat, cotton, ragi, Bengal gram and linseed.
Area:
10,951 km²
Population (2011 Census):
2,564,892
Density:
233 inhabitants per km²
Sex ratio:
962 females per 1,000 males
Literacy rate:
65.65%
Talukas:
7
Why it matters for exams: District areas, taluka counts, the rivers of north Karnataka and the 1956 reorganisation transfers are directly asked.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Toor Toor — Pigeon pea, a pulse crop widely grown in north Karnataka.
Background
Udupi is one of the coastal districts of Karnataka whose fishermen are covered by the prohibition on fishing along the Karnataka coast on the two days when winds are expected to touch 55 kilometres an hour, which is why the district's profile is of interest today. The district was formed on 25 August 1997, when it was carved out as a separate district from the erstwhile Dakshina Kannada district. Its area is given as 3,582 square kilometres. The district administration's main text reports the population as 11,77,908, while its At a Glance table lists 11,77,361; it records males as 49 per cent and females as 51 per cent. Average literacy is 83 per cent, against a national average of 59.5 per cent, with male literacy at 86 per cent and female literacy at 81 per cent. Children under six make up eight per cent of the population. The district has 233 villages, and the language listed for it is Tulu.
Date of formation:
25 August 1997
Area:
3,582 sq. km
Average literacy:
83%
Villages:
233
Language listed:
Tulu
Why it matters for exams: District formation dates and literacy figures for Karnataka's coastal districts are standard general awareness items.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Tulu Tulu — A Dravidian language spoken in coastal Karnataka and the adjoining Kasaragod area.
Background
Chikkamagaluru is a Western Ghats district of Karnataka, whose coast has been closed to fishing for two days on a wind warning, so the district's hill and river geography is worth setting out today. Its district administration records the Chikmagalur Mountains, which are part of the Western Ghats, as the source of rivers like the Tunga and the Bhadra, and lists the Bhadra, Tunga, Hemavati, Netravati and Vedavathi among the rivers that flow throughout the year. The highest point in the district is Mullanagiri, which is 1,926 metres above sea level, and the page records it as the highest point in Karnataka. The district extends 138.4 kilometres east and west and 88.5 kilometres north to south. Forest cover is listed as 30 per cent, or 2,108.62 square kilometres. Average annual rainfall is 1,925 millimetres. The administration records that coffee was introduced to India from Chikmagalur in 1670, when the first crop was grown in the Baba Budan Giri range. Chikmagalur is 251 kilometres from Bangalore.
Highest point:
Mullanagiri, 1,926 m
Forest cover:
30%, or 2,108.62 km²
Average annual rainfall:
1,925 mm
Year coffee came to India from here:
1670
Distance from Bangalore:
251 km
Why it matters for exams: The highest peak in Karnataka, the state's coffee origin story and the rivers of the Western Ghats are repeatedly asked.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Baba Budan Giri Baba Budan Giri — The hill range in Chikkamagaluru where the district administration records India's first coffee crop was grown.
Background
Chikkamagaluru's coffee country appears in this slot's State Focus; the district that stands second to it in coffee is Kodagu, and Kodagu is also Karnataka's doorstep into Kerala. The district administration records an area of 4,102 square kilometers (1,584 sq mi) and a population of 548,561 as of 2001, making it the least populous of the 30 districts in Karnataka. Its highest peak, Tadiandamol, rises to 1,750 metres (5,740 ft). The Kaveri originates at Talakaveri, located on the eastern side of the Western Ghats, and with its tributaries drains most of the district. Kodagu is divided into the three administrative talukas of Madikeri, Virajpet and Somwarpet, and the principal town and district capital is Madikeri, or Mercara. The administration describes Kodagu as the second coffee production region in India, after the Baba Budangiri hills in Chikkamagaluru district. It borders Kannur district of Kerala to the southwest and Wayanad district of Kerala to the south, which is why a Kerala aspirant meets this district in both states' papers.
Area:
4,102 square kilometers (1,584 sq mi)
Population (2001):
548,561
Highest peak:
Tadiandamol, 1,750 metres (5,740 ft)
Talukas:
Madikeri, Virajpet, Somwarpet
District capital:
Madikeri, or Mercara
Why it matters for exams: Kodagu joins Karnataka geography to Kerala's northern districts, and the Kaveri's source at Talakaveri is a standing favourite in both Kerala PSC and UPSC geography.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Talakaveri Talakaveri — The spot on the eastern side of the Western Ghats in Kodagu where the Kaveri river originates.
Taluka Taluka — A revenue sub-division of a district, called a taluk in Kerala as well.
Background
Madhugiri Fort in Tumkur district is the monument behind this slot's Karnataka High Court ruling on prohibited and regulated areas; Mandya is bounded on the North by Hassan and Tumkur Districts, and it is the agricultural heart of the old Mysore country. The district administration puts the total geographical area of the district at 4,98,244 Hectares, out of which 2,53,067 Hectares forms the sown area, and 94,779 Hectares of land is irrigated. With a total population of 19.25 lakhs, around 5 lakh people are employed in the Agriculture Sector. Mandya district comprises of 7 taluks. It receives an average annual rainfall of 700 millimeters, low for a district this green, which is what makes the canal irrigation figure the number to remember. The district headquarters is Mandya city, which is located on the Bangalore-Mysore Highway.
Total geographical area:
4,98,244 Hectares
Sown area:
2,53,067 Hectares
Irrigated land:
94,779 Hectares
Population:
19.25 lakhs
Average annual rainfall:
700 millimeters
Taluks:
7
Why it matters for exams: Mandya is the standard example of canal-irrigated farming in the Kaveri basin, and its area, sown area and irrigated area are asked as a set.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Sown area Sown area — The part of a district's land actually put under crops in a year.
Hectare Hectare — A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, or 100 hectares to a square kilometre.