Apex court stays contempt proceedings against Karnataka educ

 Officials of the Department of Education in Karnataka heaved a sigh of relief when the Supreme Court on Tuesday afternoon stayed till July 24 contempt proceedings initiated by the High Court of Karnataka against them for not complying with court orders on the language issue.

A Full Bench of the Karnataka High Court had on July 2, 2008, upheld the right of a child and its parent to choose the medium of instruction at the primary school. The Full Bench had said the State did not have any say in deciding on the medium of instruction at the primary school level — from the first to the fourth standard — in private unaided minority institutions.

Though more than a year had elapsed, the State government was not able to obtain a stay against the Full Bench order in the Supreme Court. Several schools had filed a contempt petition against the Principal Secretary of Department of Primary and Secondary Education, R.G. Nadadur; the then Commissioner for Public Instruction, Kumara Nayak; Commissioner for Primary Education Mir Obeidulla; and Deputy Director of Public Instruction, Bangalore North, Chandraiah.

A Division Benchhad castigated the government and the officials for failing to implement the Full Bench judgement and it had warned them of initiating contempt proceedings if they continued to further defy the High Court diktat. The Bench had given time till July 16 to either get an order of stay against the contempt proceedings from the State government or obey its order.

Today, when the matter came up before the Supreme Court, the State placed the July 3, 2009, order of the High Court initiating contempt proceedings against the officials and sought a stay. The State contended that as the Supreme Court had advanced hearing on its appeal against the Full Bench judgment on July 21, the High Court should have restrained from initiating any proceedings.

The stay by the Supreme Court has come as a relief to the officials who were on tenterhooks as the High Court had repeatedly made it clear that they would have to obey the Full Bench order. The State now gets time till July 24 to get a stay in the Supreme Court against the Full Bench order.

Sources in the Government told The Hindu that all efforts would be made by the State on July 21 to ensure that a stay was secured against the Full Bench judgment.