Karnataka Class 5, 8, 9 and 11 Board Exam: High Court given green signal to conduct exam

Today, the High Court Divisional Bench has announced the verdict regarding the state 5th, 8th, 9th and 11th class board examination issue. The High Court has ordered the conduct of the state’s 5th, 8th, 9th and 11th class board exams. The High Court has issued an order to continue the examination.

The High Court has instructed the Education Department to consult with the concerned parties during the next examination. A division bench of the High Court headed by the Justice Somashekhar, and Rajesh Rai announced the verdict. The High Court heard the government’s appeal and reserved its verdict.

The High Court had struck down the board examination of single-member schools. The division bench upheld the order of the single member bench. The order of the division bench was stayed by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had instructed to complete the appeal hearing. The division bench heard the arguments and reserved the verdict.

Here’s a 10-point explanation of what’s happened so far:

1) October 6 and 9, 2023: Two circulars were published by the Department of School Education and Literacy officially announcing the government’s decision to conduct board exams for classes 5, 8, 9, and 11.

2) The ‘Registered Unaided Private Schools’ Association’ (RUPSA) and the ‘Association of Recognized Unaided Schools’ filed separate writ petitions against the government circulars. A bench of Justice Ravi V. Hosmani heard these petitions.

3) 2024 March 6: Both the circulars issued by the government regarding the board examination were quashed by a single member bench of the High Court. Due to this, the board exam scheduled to be held from March 11 was cancelled.

4) What did the single member bench of the High Court say?

According to the Education Act, the government should formulate a clear rule for taking evaluation decisions. Before ordering any rule to be made/changed, there should be a discussion in the Legislative Assembly.

Not only has the board exam been fixed by issuing a notification without formulating rules, it has also been forced by publishing a circular. No rule can be enforced by circular. Therefore this circular deserves to be quashed.

5) 2024 March 7: A division bench of the High Court comprising Justices K Somasekhar and Rajesh Rai K set aside the order of the single-judge bench, which allowed the Karnataka government’s appeal. Since the petition is not pending before the Single Judge Bench, there is no question of granting interim stay. But if not stopped, this decision on the eve of the exam will increase the confusion and uncertainty of the students. Thus, the bench ruled that the prepared examination should be conducted.

6) Struggle to the Supreme Court: After the announcement of the judgment of the High Court Division Bench, the Association of Governing Boards of Registered Unaided Private Schools (RUPSA) and the Association of Recognized Unaided Schools moved the Supreme Court against it.

March 12, 2024: Supreme Court Justices Bela M. A bench comprising Trivedi and Pankaj Mittal took up the matter for hearing. Also, a division bench of the Karnataka High Court set aside its March 7 judgment against the order of the single-judge bench. Further, the trial will continue in the Karnataka High Court divisional bench.

8) March 12, 2024: In the wake of the Supreme Court verdict, the Karnataka School Education Department has temporarily postponed the examination it was conducting. Commissioner of School Education Department BB Kaveri has issued this order.

9) 2024 March 18: The Karnataka High Court division bench after hearing the arguments regarding the Karnataka Board Exam said that the hearing is over and the final verdict will be announced soon.

10) Confusion is expected to be resolved: It is expected that the confusion arising in connection with the board examination for 5th, 8th, 9th and 11th class of Karnataka will be resolved soon. As more than half of the exams have already been completed, the court verdict will decide the fate of the exams this time.