Bengaluru, Jun 24 (DHNS): The High Court on Tuesday warned to imprison officials of the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) if they continue to delay granting permission for English schools.

A division bench of Justices N Kumar and B Srinivas Gowda censured DPI officials for not enforcing a previous order of the High Court, which stipulated that the government must give permission for English-medium schools. The court is hearing a contempt petition filed by the Karnataka Unaided School Managements’ Association (Kusma) and the Karnataka State Minority Institute Managements’ Federation (KSMIMF).

The court expressed displeasure over the delay in according permission and warned to send DPI officials to jail. “Aren’t you receiving salary or you do not have any respect for the court? We know how to extract obedience to our order. The court will take delinquent officers into custody. We will show you what the contempt is,” the bench observed and passed over the matter.

Two days sought

However, when the matter came up for hearing in the afternoon, the government counsel sought two days’ time to file the status report on compliance of the court’s previous order. The counsel submitted that the process to grant permission was on. The court then granted the required time and adjourned the matter.

Around 1,900 schools under Kusma and 550 schools under the KSMIMF have filed a petition seeking action for contempt of the court. They have contended that the government had failed to start giving permission for English schools even after a full
bench of the Supreme Court upheld a High Court order in this regard.