BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday directed the state government not to insist on making Kannada a compulsory language in higher education.
A division bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum passed the interim order after hearing the counsels of the petitioners who have challenged the state government's decision to make Kannada a compulsory language in undergraduate courses on the basis of purported implementation of NEP 2020.
"Prima facie we are of the view that the matter with respect to the implementation of the Kannada as a compulsory subject in higher studies on the basis of implementation of NEP 2020 is a question which requires consideration and as such the State Government, at this stage, should not insist to make the language compulsory, till further orders", the court said in the interim order.
Before this, the Additional Solicitor General of India MB Naragund, on the stand of the union government over state government's decision for making Kannada a compulsory language, sought time to clarify the stand of the Union Government, as it has to take a decision in consultation with the state governments.
Advocate General Prabhuling K Navadagi submitted that already four lakh students have taken admission opting Kannada as a subject and admissions are almost over at this stage. The petitioners-students have already studied the Kannada language up to Class 12 and as such, they cannot have any objection in studying the Kannada language in higher studies, he argued.
The court adjourned the hearing after granting four weeks time to the Union of India to clarify its stand.
The court was hearing the petitions filed by the Samskrita Bharathi Karnataka Trust and KG Shivakumar and others, studying at Vijaya College at Basavanagudi in Bengaluru.