The Madras High Court has directed authorities concerned to show a liberal approach in the matter of students applying to opt out from the applicability of provisions of Tamil Nadu Tamil Learning Act of 2006, which made Tamil compulsory as the first language.
The First Bench of Chief Justice S K Kaul and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana gave the direction while disposing of a batch of petitions challenging the Act.
Since the rules have been brought into force only in 2012 and the issue relates to the fate of the students, who should not suffer, a liberal approach is mandatorily required, especially at the inception stage of introduction of the scheme, to ensure that the students do not face any harassment, the bench said.
The Advocate General must in turn impress upon the competent authority to see that these principles are kept in mind while dealing with the applications for opting out from the applicability of the rule, the bench said,
The bench granted two more weeks time to students who have not yet applied and directed the competent authority to deal with the applications within six weeks.
