The Supreme Court has given a jolt to the newly elected J Jayalalithaa government in Tamil Nadu by denying it permission to make changes in a state law on education and do away with the poems penned by jailed DMK MP Kanimozhi in the school curriculum.
Chief minister Jayalalithaa wanted to do away with the school curriculum approved by her predecessor and DMK leader M Karunanidhi’s government.
The state government had sought a stay on the operation of the Madras high court order that had scrapped the amendment to the Tamil Nadu Uniform System of School Education Act.
However, a bench of Justice JM Panchal, Justice Deepak Verma and Justice BS Chauhan asked the state government to distribute the controversial textbooks, printed as per the course curriculum approved by the DMK government.
The Supreme Court will hear the state’s lawsuit on July 26. It has allowed the state to distribute the books among children by August 2, instead of July 22, a date fixed by the high court.
TN’s lawyer PP Rao quoted from a report prepared by an expert panel appointed by the apex court, which stated that the textbooks, which praised DMK and its leaders, particularly 2G spectrum scam accused Kanimozhi, were prepared in haste. “The textbooks are of substandard nature and prepared in haste. They are atrocious,” said Rao.
However, the court said it would examine the arguments later since it involves the future of 1.2 crore-odd students in the state.
