Plus two cases: HC reserves orders

The Kerala High Court today reserved its judgement on a batch of appeals filed by the state government in the Plus two case to September 1.
The order in this regard was issued by a division bench comprising Justices Antony Dominique and Sheshadri Naidu.
The schools' managements today complained that government had not followed procedures as well as guidelines presented by the division bench. They said the sanction order was illegal and against the spirit of the division bench judgement.
The government claimed that policy has to be upheld for the better interest of the student community which is awaiting admission to plus two courses.

A single judge had on August 18 directed that only schools recommended by six-member expert committee, which had received approval of the Higher secondary Education Director, be given sanction to start plus two courses and additional batches this year.
The court had also made it clear that certain schools recommended by the commitee, which had failed to get the Education Director's approval, be given provisional sanction to function forthwith, subject to conditions stipualted in the Government Order of July 31 this year.

Challenging this verdict, government had filed appeals stating that 14,250 seats from 225 batches would be lost and about 81,000 students denied plus two courses by the order.

The division bench had criticised the government action in overriding the directions of the High Court in the name of policy.
It had in its July 10 order directed grant of Plus two schools according to educational needs and to grant courses in 9 northern districts from Ernakulam and 148 panchayats. Now the state wants to revise the order of the court, the bench had held.