Bangalore: The Jalahalli police on Friday arrested K.R.K. Reddy, General Secretary of Sri Gowtham Academy of General and Technical Education Society which runs Orchids, The International School, on charges of cheating the public and children.
Based on a complaint filed by Mr H.B. Manjunath, Deputy Director of Public Instructions, on Thursday, the police arrested Reddy.
“The society office-bearers are running the school ‘Orchids, The International School’ in Jalahalli by flouting the rules, violating law, illegally running a CBSE English Medium School and having cheated the public, parents and particularly more than 900 children without any recognition either from the state or from the central government,” the complaint stated.
The charges were leveled against K. Durga, President, Y. Shilpa, Vice-President, K.R.K. Reddy, Secretary, and U. Surendra Babu, Joint Secretary.
The police took up the case and filed an FIR under Sections 18(5) of The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 and sections 418 (cheating with knowledge that wrongful loss may ensue to person whose interest offender is bound to protect), 420 (cheating) read/with 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC.
“As per the complainant, when he inspected the school, it was found that the society had secured permission on March 25, 2013 from the state government to run a primary school from Class 1 to 5 in Kannada medium.
But in reality classes from pre-nursery to 7th standard CBSE English Medium were being held in gross violation and abuse of law without proper certification and they have collected huge amounts of money on false promise claiming that it is a recognised school,” the police said.
Appropriate sections not invoked: RTE activists
The complaint registered by the Bengaluru North DDPI under the provisions of the Right To Education (RTE) against the Orchids, The International School with the Jalahalli police has now led to a controversy, as activists allege that the DPI has not filed the case under stringent provisions of the RTE.
Mr Nagasimha G. Rao of the RTE Task Force said that the case has been registered under Section 18 of the Act. “Under this section, the school will be let off after paying Rs 1 lakh as fine.
The school should have been booked under Section 17 (prohibition of physical abuse) and Section 19 (cancellation of the recognition of the school). But, the DPI has shown a soft corner for the school,” he alleged.
Mr. Rao said that the police have failed to take all the stakeholders, including the Child Helpline, into confidence while conducting the investigation. Everyone has been neglected, he said.
