On Thursday, 5th January, Karnataka High School declared Karnataka Education Act unconstitutional, which gave the government powers to intervene in the process of deciding fee structure for the unaided private schools.
The Karnataka Education Act’s Section 2(11)(a) read together with Section 48 and Section 124(A) are deemed to be illegal as far as private unaided educational institutions are concerned since they violate Article 14 of the Indian Constitution. According to Justice ES Indiresh, who delivered the ruling on a number of petitions, Sections 5(a) and 112(a) of the Karnataka Education Act are in violation of Articles 14 and 19(a)(g) of the constitution as well as the law as established by the Supreme Court.
Error-making schools will be punished
A penalty of up to Rs 10 lakh may be imposed, and Section 124A gives the District Education Regulatory Authority, which is led by the Deputy Commissioner, the authority to order that any educational institution that is found to have violated Section 48 by collecting more money than is allowed to do so refund the extra money they may have taken in. Sections 5(a), which deals with child safety standards in schools, and 112(a), which is the penal provision, both allow for prosecution and jail terms of up to six months as well as derecognition or disaffiliation for management.
