BENGALURU: The High Court on Wednesday asked the state government to file objections against a petition seeking to squash a government order reducing the percentage of students belonging to the minority group from 75 per cent to 25 per cent in minority schools.
The state government on July 24, 2012, passed an order stating that in a school with minority status, there should be at least 75 per cent children belonging to the minority - be it linguistic or religious.
This order was modified on June 18, 2014, reducing the percentage to 25 per cent.
The petitioners — Karnataka Regional Commission for Education and Karnataka State Minority Educational Institutions Managements’ Federation — contended that there is an existing petition pending before the court challenging the government order issued in 2012. This petition states that the government had not appointed a competent authority to issue no objection certificates to schools that seek minority status. It further stated that the government had not declared whether the minority status was linguistic or religious.
The petitioners informed that even though the matter was still pending for consideration, the government had issued another order in 2014.
Justice B V Nagarathna did not allow private institutions to implead in the matter. She observed that the petition was not a private interest litigation.
Petition on Name Change Dismissed
The High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition challenging the name change of two districts.
The petitioner had contended that the state government had no powers to change the names of Gulbarga and Bijapur to Kalaburagi and Vijayapura respectively. The government counsel stated that under Section 13 of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, the state government can decide the names of various places in the state. He also said that a circular was sent on October 17, 2014, to the Central government, which had issued no objection to its decision.
Court Stays CCF Order
The High Court on Wednesday stayed an order passed by the Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) asking Adichunchanagiri Mutt to vacate an area that it has allegedly encroached.
The CCF had accused the mutt of encroaching upon a forest land. Sri Nirmalanandanatha Swamy, the petitioner, contended that the CCF had issued an order to vacate 7.2 acres of the forest land.
The counsel appearing for the mutt contended that the Revenue Department had allotted the land to the mutt. Justice S Abdul Nazeer ordered the issuance of a notice to the state government after granting the stay order.