Karnataka HC allows petition filed by pvt schools against fire safety order

The High Court of Karnataka on Friday allowed a petition by 22 private schools that had challenged the November 10, 2020 and the subsequent March 10, 2021 circulars issued by the state Education Department regarding fire safety in school buildings.

Justice Ashok S Kinagi, while allowing the petitions, held that the circulars do not apply to state syllabus schools that were functioning before 2020-21 when the directions were issued.

The petitioners — Pragna Education Society, Ravindra Bharathi Vidya Samsthe and 20 others — had sought a direction that the notification was ultra vires of the Karnataka Education Act 1983.