Karnataka HC begins hearing plea challenging ban against online classes for primary students in the State.

Is there any change in Govt's stand? CJ Oka asks.

Advocate General Prabhuling Navadgi informs the Court of the interim arrangement till expert committee is formed.

This was informed during last hearing.. That (forming expert committee) will take a long time, Bench remarks.

Senior Advocate Uday Holla submits that under guidelines issued under UNLOCK -1, it is specifically said that online classes for schools and colleges are permitted.

Under the Govt notification, only schools are not permitted to conduct classes. Private players are continuing to conduct classes... they are not regulated as well, Holla continues.

Holla also cites examples of Kerala and Delhi where the Govt itself has taken the initiative to conduct online classes.

COVID will be there for minimum 6 months, according to me, for the whole academic year. If we are not holding online classes, then God help us: Holla.

CJ Oka: Assuming that you are right on merits, can we make online classes compulsory?

Adv Pradeep Nayak submits that the Karnataka Govt notification is against Right to Education under Article 21-A. There is no intelligible differentia, between schools and private players, he says.

Notification is only for schools and not for the latter, Nayak adds.

Intially, the ban was only for classes 1-5. Now the new notification regulates time for online classes till class 10, Nayak.
Govt also does not provide any justification for coming up with the notification, Nayak adds.

He further says that the order is very vague as there is no definition of what an online class is. Is it a zoom class, pre-recorded class by teachers or anything else? Nayak asks.