BENGALURU: Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court Prasanna B Varale on Thursday orally observed that persons occupying high posts should show some constraints. Without naming any person, the chief justice made this observation a day after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in his Kannada Rajyotsava speech stated that despite several efforts made by the government in making Kannada the medium of instruction in the schools, the courts were not cooperating with the government’s efforts.
The division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit was hearing a public interest litigation filed by parents of eight students who had challenged the mandatory teaching of Kannada in CBSE and ICSE Board schools.
During the hearing, the Chief Justice, citing his own example, observed that those who take education in the regional language should not be treated as incompetent, and that they can be very successful, too. “At the same time, persons who are occupying high posts should show some constraints,” the Chief Justice orally observed.
Meanwhile, the counsel of the petitioners submitted the details of the wards of the petitioners in a sealed envelope to the court in response to the order passed on the last date of the hearing held in September. The counsel submitted that the parents were against disclosing the names of their children and the school in the petition as there were some instances where children had faced persecution in their schools.
Then the court observed that it was unjustified apprehension as they were not the first parents to challenge the issue before the court. If the children are so delicate, how will they face life in future? The parents are making their children timid. There are so many challenges in life... Life may test everything, your patience, skill, and experience, the court observed.
The petitioners have challenged the Rule 3 of the Kannada Language Learning Act which mandates teaching Kannada as a compulsory language to all students of Classes 1 to 10 in all schools of the state.
The petitioners stated that the combined effect of the Kannada Language Learning Act, 2015, rules framed under the Act in 2017 and Karnataka Educational Institutions (Issue of No Objection Certificate and Control) Rules, 2022 (NOC Rules), is that schools in Karnataka -- including those affiliated to CBSE and ICSE Boards -- will now have to teach Kannada either as a first, second or third language, and this will adversely affect students and children.
The petitioners stated that they are not opposed to Kannada being taught as a language. In each state, there is a large section of citizens whose mother tongue is different from the regional languages. These citizens often work in private and government establishments and are often transferred from one state to another, and generally enrol their children in CBSE/ICSE-affiliated schools.