BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court issued notices to the state government and Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) on a petition that students were forcibly made to remove their sacred thread (janivara) before writing the Common Entrance Test (CET) this year.
The division bench of Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice KV Aravind heard the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Raghunath, president of the Akhila Karnataka Brahmana Mahasabha, on Saturday.
The petitioner pleaded before that necessary orders be given to conduct CET again for those students who were not allowed to appear for the test. They argued that the action of the respondents (state government and KEA) is violative of fundamental rights of the students.
The petitioner said the CET for various professional courses was held across the state on April 16 and 17. Before entering the examination hall, students were checked and those who were wearing the sacred thread were forced to remove it. In some extreme cases, the janivaras were cut, despite the students protesting, the petitioner said.
Those who refused to remove it were denied the opportunity to write the test. Such incidents reportedly occurred in Bidar, Shivamogga, and Dharwad districts, the petitioner claimed.
They argued that forcibly removing the sacred thread violates the religious beliefs protected under the Constitution. They stated that no action has been taken yet against officials responsible for this unconstitutional act.
The petition also demanded that KEA should be directed to conduct a retest for students who were not allowed to write the test. Clear guidelines should be formulated for student checks before exams conducted by KEA.
The act of denying students entry into the exam hall because they were wearing a sacred thread should be declared unconstitutional, arbitrary, and illegal.