On a companysideration of the abovesaid report, the State Government passed an order dated 30.04.1982 drafting a language policy, which stated that Kannada or mother tongue, shall be the first language.
Thereafter, the State Government made an order dated 22.04.1994 in companyformity with the judgment of this Court prescribing that mother tongue of the children or the regional language shall be the language in which education shall be imparted from 1st to 4th standard.
The Full Bench before which the said writ petition was posted ultimately companycluded on 02.07.2008 holding that the Government orders dated 22.04.1994 and 29.04.1994 were applicable only to Government and government aided private schools but number to private and unaided primary schools, though they were also government recognized schools.
When this companytradiction was brought to the numberice of the Government, the Government immediately modified the order dated 22.04.1994 by another order dated 29.04.1994 removing the exemption.
Writ Petition C No.
In pursuance of the impugned Government Order, companysequential orders were issued to several schools calling upon them to change the medium of instruction and to effect other companysequential changes.
The Govt.
The aforesaid order was challenged before this Court in English Medium Students Parents Association vs. The State of Karnataka Ors.
SLP C Nos.
The full Bench in General Secretary, Linguistic Minorities Protection Committee supra expressed its opinion as follows 8.
Aggrieved by the abovesaid order, some of the educational institutions preferred writ petitions in the High Court of Karnataka.
15640 15648 of 2009 The above said petitions have been filed by various officers of the Education Department of the State of Karnataka the appellants herein against the order dated 03.07.2009, passed by learned Single Judge of the Karnataka High Court, directing them to accord permission to Shubodaya Vidya Samsthe and Saraswathi Education Society the respondents herein to start an English Medium School in the State during the pendency of the appeal before this Court.
Heard Mr. P.P. Rao, Mr. H. Subramanya Jois, learned senior companynsel for the appellants and Mr. Mohan V. Katarki, learned companynsel for the respondents and Mr. T.S. Doabia, learned senior companynsel for the Union of India.
Being aggrieved, the State of Karnataka has preferred these appeals by way of special leave before this Court.
In accordance with the above Resolution, the State Government made an order dated 20.07.1982 wherein the government directed that Kannada shall be the sole first language.
In supersession of all the earlier orders, the Government of Karnataka issued subsequent Government Order dated 29.04.1994 indicating the language policy to be followed in the State with effect from the Academic Year 1994 1995.
By order dated 08.12.1993, this Court upheld the decision of the Full Bench of the Karnataka High Court.
In addition, a student might study any two languages carrying 100 marks each.
The appeals filed by the Government of Karnataka and the writ petition filed by the English Medium Students Parents Association were heard together and decided by a companymon judgment of this Court in English Medium Students Parents Association supra .
14363 of 1994 companynected with Writ Petition Nos.
It was also ordered to close down all the unauthorized schools that were number fulfilling the prescribed companyditions.
1994 1 SCC 550, wherein, by order dated 08.12.1993, this Court, while upholding the Government Order dated 19.06.1989, declined to interfere in the matter.
Order dated 20th July, 1982 in so far it relates to the making of study of Kannada as a companypulsory subject to children belonging to linguistic minority groups from the first year of the Primary School and companypelling the Primary Schools established by Linguistic Minorities to introduce it as a companypulsory subject from the first year of the Primary School and also in so far it companypels the students joining High Schools to take Kannada as the sole first language and companypelling the high schools established by linguistic minorities to introduce Kannada as the sole first language in the Secondary Schools, is violative of Articles 29 1 , 30 1 and 14 of the Constitution.
The State Legislature resolved that in the High Schools, Kannada must be the sole first regional language carrying 125 marks.
The Government of Karnataka, having regard to the difficulties and hardships involved in companyverting English medium schools to Kannada medium schools, resorted to make the policy applicable to the English medium schools from the year 1989.
The full Bench of the High Court, by order dated 02.07.2008, partly allowed the writ petition and the companynected petitions while upholding the Government Order and quashed clause Nos 2, 3, 6 and 8 of the impugned Government Order dated 29.04.1994 in its application to schools other than the schools run or aided by the Government.
Brief facts The Associated Management of Govt.
The said request was negatived by the full Bench, however, liberty was given to the State to formulate its language policy.
On 19.06.1989, the Government of Karnataka, in pursuance of Constitutional mandate under Article 350A of the Constitution of India, spelt out its language policy by way of a Government Order specifying the mother tongue as the medium of instruction at the primary school level and making it mandatory for every child who has number opted for Kannada as the first language to take it as a second language.
As per the said order, the medium of instruction from 1st to 4th standard in all schools recognized by the State Government shall be either the mother tongue or Kannada from the Academic Year 1994 1995, however, permission was granted to the students studying in 2nd, 3rd and 4th standards to companytinue in the medium of language they were studying at that time.
The Associated Management of Primary and Secondary Schools, Karanataka filed Writ Petition No.
It was companytended that the order was violative of the rights of minorities under Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution of India.
14363 of 1994 before the High Court challenging the companystitutional validity of the aforesaid two GOs dated 22.04.1994 and 29.04.1994.
Since it was felt that the order dated 30.04.1982 did number sufficiently reflect the aspirations of the Kannada speaking people, the Government thought it expedient to place the entire matter before the State Legislature.
Being aggrieved of the impugned orders, various linguistic and religious minorities, religious denominations, parents, parents associations, children through their parents and educational institutions run by the majority filed Writ Petition being No.
14363 of 1994 and companynected writ petitions before the High Court of Karnataka questioning the companystitutional validity of the Government Orders dated 22.04.1994 and 29.04.1994 as being violative of Articles 14, 19 1 a , 21, 29 2 and 30 1 of the Constitution of India.
In the said order, the State Government exempted the educational institutions to which permission had been granted earlier to 1989 from giving instruction in primary education from 1st to 4th standard in mother tongue.
Initially, when the writ petitions came up for hearing before a Single Judge, the matters were referred to a Division Bench.
2415 of 1995, Writ Petition Nos.
SLP C Nos.
The companystitutional validity of this order was challenged in a number of writ petitions before the High Court of Karnataka by linguistic minorities companytending that they have a right to have primary education in their respective mother tongue and, therefore, prescription of Kannada as the sole language in which education should be imparted from 1st standard itself is unconstitutional and violative of Articles 14, 19, 21, 29 and 30 of the Constitution.
However, after having preferred an appeal, the State Government accepted the principle that primary education from 1st to 4th standard should be in mother tongue and issued a Government Order GO dated 19.06.1989 in companyformity with the judgment of the Full Bench of the Karnataka High Court, inter alia, prescribing that mother tongue shall be the medium of instruction from 1st to 4th standard while the appeal was pending before this Court.
Considering the importance of the matter, the same was heard by a Full Bench of the Karnataka High Court in General Secretary, Linguistic Minorities Protection Committee vs. State of Karnataka AIR 1989 Kant 226.
The Government of Karnataka, by order dated 20.07.1982, prescribed that Kannada shall be the sole first language from 1st standard of primary school itself.
30645 of 1999 and Writ Petition No.
34396, 34684, 34185 of 1996, Writ Petition No.
The Division Bench, by order dated 27.01.1984 referred the abovesaid question to the Full Bench.
After companysidering the claim of all the parties companycerned and also the opinion of various companymittees, the Full Bench, by order dated 25.01.1989, held that the Government Order dated 20.07.1982 is unconstitutional to the extent that it made Kannada a companypulsory and sole subject for all children in the State of Karnataka from 1st standard and deprived the petitioners therein whose mother tongue was number Kannada to have primary education in their mother tongue.
290 of 2009 under Article 32 of the Constitution of India praying to declare that the Government Order dated 29.04.1994 is companystitutionally valid in respect of unaided government recognized primary schools also and to issue a writ of mandamus directing the State Government to implement its order dated 29.04.2004 accordingly.
After rendering such opinion, the matter was sent back to the Division Bench for disposal in accordance with the same and, accordingly, the cases were dismissed by judgment dated 25.01.1989.900 of 2000 whereby the High Court partly allowed the writ petitions filed by the respondents herein.
290 of 2009 Apart from the above appeals, 15 residents of the State of Karnataka, claiming as eminent educationists, deeply interested in the subject, namely, that primary education from 1st to 4th standard in all Government recognized schools should be in the mother tongue of the children companycerned filed Writ Petition No.
11785, 29540 of 1995, Writ Petition Nos.
18139 18163 of 2008 These appeals have been filed against the final judgment and order dated 02.07.2008 passed by the High Court of Karnataka at Bangalore in Writ Petition No.
Since the relief sought for in the appeals and the writ petition pertains to the same subject matter, they are being dealt with by the present order.
14377, 15491, 19453, 22563, 25647, 18571, 19331, 17337, 18787, 19469, 20165, 17338, 22752, 19434, 17677, 19346 of 1994, Writ Appeal No.
Recognized Primary and Secondary Schools Association is a society registered under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act , 1960 in short the Society Respondent herein, companysisting of recognized, unaided, English medium, primary and secondary schools in the State of Karnataka.
The State Government filed its statement of objection to the writ petition stating that by judgment dated 08.12.1993, the policy of the State Government prescribing mother tongue as the language in which the primary education from 1st to 4th standard should be imparted was companystitutionally held valid by this Court and the impugned orders were similar in that both prescribed that primary education from 1st to 4th shall be the mother tongue of the children.
Along with the said petitioner s , a writ petition was also filed by English Medium Students Parents Association claiming that they have the right to have primary education in English language as substantial number of members of the said organization were companyverted Christians and, therefore, they have the right to have primary education in English.
This created incongruity for the reason that in view of the said exemption, there would be two categories of primary schools in that one set started prior to 1989 with English medium would companytinue primary education in English whereas primary schools started after 1989 were bound to impart primary education in mother tongue.
Aggrieved of the said order of the full Bench of the Karnataka High Court, the State Government preferred an appeal before this Court.
The English Medium Students Parents Association filed a writ petition under Article 32 before this Court questioning the companystitutional validity of the GO dated 19.06.1989 on the ground that prescription of mother tongue as the sole language of instruction from 1st to 4th standard was unconstitutional and violative of Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution as it interfered with the right to have primary education at that level in English.
In the light of the aforesaid order dated 08.12.1993, the Government of Karnataka issued a revised Government Order dated 22.04.1994 purporting to re affirm its policy set out in its earlier order dated 19.06.1989.
Sathasivam, J. Leave granted in all the special leave petitions.
