The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday ordered issue of notice to the State government on petitions filed by educational institutions questioning the validity of the Karnataka Education (Second Amendment) Act, 2017. The Act provides for imposition of penalty on schools in case of failure to ensure safety and security of children and for collecting excess fee.
Justice L. Narayana Swamy passed the order on the petition filed by Associated Managements’ of Government Recognised English Medium Schools in Karnataka and others questioning the amended Act, which came into force from April 22, 2017.
It has been contended that amending the Act was a contemptuous action when the petitions, which had questioned constitutional validity of the parent legislation — the Karnataka Education Act (KEA), 1983 and the Rules, are pending for adjudication before the High Court after being remanded back from the Supreme Court, which in 2010 set aside High Court’s 1996 order of upholding the KE Act, 1983.
Also, the petitioners have contended that enforcing the amended provisions to impose penalty up to ₹10 lakh and imprisonment up to six months for violation of certain provisions, even on schools affiliated to the Council of Indian School Certificate Examination or Central Board of Secondary Education, would cause “harassment” to such schools as they were governed under the ICSE or CBSE regulations.
Bringing even unaided private schools under the jurisdiction of the newly created District Education Regulatory Authority amounts to violation of the Supreme Court’s verdict, which prohibits regulation from the State on unaided educational institutions.
The provisions for penalty and imprisonment up to six months for violation of child safety norms have overriding effect of the existing Central legislations, which are enacted for protecting the children, it has been claimed in the petition.
