Justice Hrishikesh Roy, a judge in the Supreme Court, has stepped aside from the case involving the legitimacy of the domicile quota for Karnataka students at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in Bengaluru. This development marks the fourth recusal in this case. Previously, Justice Aniruddha Bose, Justice Abdul Nazeer, and former Chief Justice of India UU Lalit had also recused themselves.

On Tuesday, Justice Roy, along with Justice Sanjay Karol, presided over the matter. Parties' legal representatives had sent out a letter requesting an adjournment, which the Bench approved. However, they specified that the case should be listed before a bench that does not include Justice Roy.

The controversy stems from an appeal to the Supreme Court against a Karnataka High Court verdict that questioned the imposition of reservations by the State government on NLSIU, despite the university being an autonomous institution.

In February 2020, the Karnataka government introduced the National Law School of India (Amendment) Bill, 2020 in the State Assembly. The bill sought to introduce a 25% quota for students with Karnataka domicile. The legislative body passed the Bill in the subsequent month. This amendment introduced Section 4(3), which mandated a 25% horizontal reservation for Karnataka domicile students at NLSIU.

In September 2020, the Karnataka High Court invalidated the Amendment Act. This prompted the State government to appeal to the Supreme Court. However, no interim decisions have been made on the case yet.