Admissions were allegedly being denied to students belonging to SC, ST and OBC communities.
Karnataka high court, on Thursday, issued notices to the state government on a public-interest litigation (PIL) filed against Karnataka Unaided Schools Management Association (Kusma) for allegedly denying admission to students belonging to SC, ST and OBC communities.
It may be recalled that the association had initiated a protest against the state government over RTE, by calling for a week-long closure of schools under it starting from July 16. While it had sought clarifications from the state over the Act, a few other private school associations came forward to support its shutdown stir.
So, city-based lawyer S Vasudev filed a PIL against the association and his main contention was that closure of the schools was unwarranted and unconstitutional. However, the protest turned out to be a flop-show and the association, finally, called off its closure plans.
When the petition came up for hearing on Thursday, a division bench-headed by Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen-asked Vasudev why the petition when the private schools have dropped their closure plans. To this, the petitioner replied that though the shutdown plan has been called off, the perpetrators should not be left scot-free. He argued: Who has given Kusma the right to shut down around 1,800 schools?
To this, the bench pointed out that last week, the All-India Bar Council boycotted court in protest against the inclusion of legal education within the ambit of the proposed Higher Education and Research Bill-2011 and Legal Practitioners Act 2010. "Did you not find that exciting? Let's not get excited over some issues," the bench observed. Then the petitioner's counsel brought up the issue of backward-class students.
In his petition, Vasudev had sought a direction to the state government and its education departments to implement the Supreme Court judgment of April 12, 2012, that stipulates all institutions to give free and compulsory education under the Act.
This apart, the petitioner had also sought an inquiry against Kusma schools into their failure to admit SC, ST and OBC students. After hearing that, the division bench issued notices to the state government.
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