Karnataka High Court orders notice to state govt, KEA on Janivara row

The Karnataka High Court on Saturday ordered notice to the state government and Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) in a PIL relating to the instances wherein students appearing for CET (Mathematics) paper were forced to cut/remove their ‘Janivara’ (sacred thread).

A division bench comprising Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice KV Aravind, however, said the allegations made in the petition need to be substantiated by providing the names of the students affected.

The PIL is filed by the Akhila Karnataka Brahmana Mahasabha. Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate S Sriranga submitted that in the examinations conducted on April 17, 2025, the students were ill-treated at various examination centres.

The students were asked to remove their ‘Janivara’, which is put on by the students as a part of their religious and cultural practice. According to the petitioners, the incident happened at all the centres, in particular at Bidar, Shivamogga and Dharwad districts.

The students who refused to remove Janivara were not permitted to enter the examination room and were deprived of appearing in the examination, the advocate said.

The petitioners sought interference of the court for a direction to hold a re-examination for those students who were not permitted to enter the examination halls.

The advocate for the petitioners said that the action on the part of the KEA officials was in violation of rights under Articles 21A (right to education), 25 (Freedom to practice religion) and 29 (2) (admission to educational institutions) of the constitution. He informed the court that, subsequent to the filing of the PIL, FIRs were also registered in certain cases on April 21.

On the other hand, the government advocate submitted that it is painful for the government as well and that those students have been offered seats in government colleges despite not appearing in the examinations.

The bench adjourned the hearing to June 9, observing that the allegations made in the petition need to be substantiated by the petitioner, including by providing the names of the students affected. The bench orally said that the petition does not mention each of the students not allowed to enter the examination hall.