‘Janivara’ issue: Karnataka High Court issues notice to State govt., KEA

The High Court of Karnataka on Saturday ordered issue of notice to the State government and the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) on a PIL petition questioning the actions of officials in compelling some students to remove their ‘janivara’ (‘sacred threads’) before allowing them to enter the examination hall to write the Common Entrance Test (CET)-2025 held on April 17.

A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice N.V. Anjaria and Justice K.V. Aravind, passed the order on the petition filed by the Akhila Karnataka Brahmana Mahasabha, Bengaluru.

“If what is stated is found to be correct, the allegations made in the petition are prone to assume serious dimensions about the violation of cultural-cum-religious rights of the students,” the Bench observed while taking note of the allegations that some students were forced to remove their ‘sacred threads’ which were worn by the students as part of their ancient religious and cultural practices.

Senior advocate Sriranga S., appearing along with advocates Sumana Naganand and Ashwini N. Ravindra, contended that incidents of compelling students to remove ‘janivara’ occurred particularly at three centres in Shivamogga, Dharwad, and Bidar districts.

A first information report was registered with the police in Sagar town of Shivamogga district in connection with one such incident on April 21, Mr. Sriranga pointed out.

Meanwhile, it was pointed out in the petition that people belonging Brahmin, Kshatriya, and Vaishya communities wore ‘janivara’ as part of their religious practices.

The petitioner also sought direction to the State government to formulate guidelines for frisking candidates by officials at the time of entering examination centres and to initiate stringent action against officials who prevented students from entering examination halls to write CET.

When the senior advocate sought a direction to the State government and the KEA  to conduct re-examination for those who were victims of such illegal act of forcing removal of their ‘janivara,’ the Bench said that the petitioner would have to substantiate allegations by providing necessary materials and information like affected students, etc., as no student was before the court.

However, the Bench said that “what weighs with the court is the averment made in the petition that those students who refused to remove ‘janivara’ were not permitted to enter the examination hall and deprived of appearing for the examination.”

Source link

Please Unblock add blocker

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *