The Karnataka government informed the Supreme Court Today (Oct 15) that the State’s notifications to hold board examinations for classes 5, 8 and 9 in the current academic year in three rural districts have been withdrawn. Interestingly, Central government’s second senior most law officer, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, appeared for the Congress ruled State. SG Mehta told the bench that there was a mistake on the part of State in issuing such a notification for conducting exam despite court’s stay.
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BENGALURU: The Karnataka government officially withdrawn its notifications to conduct board examinations for classes 5, 8, and 9 in three rural districts for the current academic year, as informed to the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The move comes after the Supreme Court had previously issued a stay on such exams, leading to the State’s decision to reverse the notification.
In an unusual occurrence, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, the second senior-most law officer of the Central Government, represented the Congress-ruled State of Karnataka in this matter.
Appearing before a bench comprising Justices Bela M. Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma, SG Mehta acknowledged the mistake made by the State in issuing the notification, despite the court’s earlier stay order.
“The withdrawal is done. It was a mistake on our part. It is our mistake. I can assure my learned friend that even if exams were conducted, no results will be out. It can be recorded (by the Court),”
-SG Mehta submitted, recognizing the error in issuing the exam notification.
The Supreme Court, during the hearing, questioned why the State was unnecessarily burdening parents and children with such exams.
The court remarked,
“Why is the State bent to trouble the parents and children? There appears to be some ego problem on part of the state.”
In response, SG Mehta explained that errors in the allocation of marks in three districts had prompted the issuance of the notification for conducting public examinations. However, he clarified that the notification had since been withdrawn in light of the court’s stay order.
“State cares about the children. There is no intent on our part to harm their future. It was our mistake, and we have withdrawn it,”
-SG Mehta reiterated, assuring the court that the decision was in the best interest of the students.
The Supreme Court took note of the State’s submissions and has now scheduled the matter for further hearing next week.
This issue originated from the Karnataka High Court’s ruling on March 22, which had upheld the State’s decision to conduct “board examinations” for students in classes 5, 8, 9, and 11, affiliated with the Karnataka State Education Board (KSEAB). The High Court had ruled that these exams should not be viewed as conventional board exams and had dismissed petitions challenging their conduct.
In response, the Unaided Private Schools Management Association filed an appeal in the Supreme Court, challenging the High Court’s judgment. In April, the Supreme Court stayed the declaration of results for the exams conducted under this notification.
The legal representation for the appellants in the Supreme Court included advocates KV Dhananjay, A Velan, Ananya Krishna, Sainath DM, and Dheeraj SJ.
As the case progresses, the outcome will determine how Karnataka manages its board exam policies for younger students in the future.
CASE TITLE:
Registered Unaided Private Schools Management Association Karnataka vs State of Karnataka and Others.
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