Kerala High Court stays order mandating Hindi as third language in Lakshadweep schools
New Delhi: The Kerala High Court has deferred the implementation of a government order that made Hindi mandatory as the third language in Lakshadweep schools. The decision came while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Ajas Akbar, president of the National Students Union of India (NSUI), Lakshadweep.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Basant Balaji observed that language carries deep cultural significance and any alteration in the curriculum could have serious consequences. The bench questioned whether the Lakshadweep administration had conducted any study on the necessity and impact of the language change, to which the administration’s counsel admitted no such study had been carried out.
The administration defended its move by citing the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the National Curriculum Framework for the Foundational Stage (2022), and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (2023). However, the court clarified that the NEP 2020 only stipulates that two of the three languages taught in schools should be native to India, without mandating Hindi specifically.
The court also pointed out that under the Kerala Education Rules, 1959 and the Kerala Curriculum Framework, Arabic remains a prescribed subject of study.
The PIL argued that the administration’s decision to remove Arabic/Mahal from the curriculum violated the constitutional rights of a minority community, particularly affecting students from Minicoy Island where Mahal is the native language.
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ED arrests Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora in fresh PMLA case
New Delhi/Chandigarh (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday arrested Punjab industries minister Sanjeev Arora in a fresh money laundering case against him and some entities allegedly linked to him, officials said.
Arora was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after raids were conducted at his official residence in Chandigarh since early morning, they added.
Officials claimed Arora (62) was "non-cooperative" during the probe. He is expected to be produced before a local court on Saturday, where the agency will seek his custody for a detailed interrogation.
The ED carried out the searches at five premises across north India as part of the action.
The raids also covered two premises in Delhi and that of a company named Hampton Sky Realty Ltd in Gurugram's Udyog Vihar.
The searches were launched after the central agency registered a fresh case under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the officials said.
