Karnataka High Court issues notice in plea seeking distribution of talking laptops to eligible visually impaired students

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the state of Karnataka in a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking direction for timely distribution of talking laptops to eligible visually impaired students under a scheme launched by the State government in 2014..A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice S Vishwajith Shetty passed the order in a plea filed by advocate Umapathi S. .It is the petitioner's case that in the year 2014, the State government had approved the supply of free talking laptops to visually impaired students. It was further pointed out that various amounts were released since 2014 for implementation of the said scheme. .In the year 2019, Rs 2.40 crores were released by the State but the same was not spent towards the scheme, the petitioner has submitted. .The petition, based on information obtained through Right to Information Act (RTI), has contended that the government not only reduced budgetary allocation for distribution of talking laptops every year but also failed to distribute laptops in a time-bound manner to needy students. ."Many of the Applicants who applied for the above free talking laptops have been deprived of the same due to the late and short release of funds by the Government and delay in awarding the tender in a time bound manner. It is also submitted that though the budget allocation has been decreasing over the years and delay in the getting the allotment over the years, yet the officials didn't make any efforts to see that these underprivileged and disadvantaged students get their benefits in time and as a result their applications across different districts have been pending in the office since for the last two years,"the petition says. .Further, the plea goes on to contend that when the government has framed a policy to distribute talking laptops for free, the same would lead to a "legitimate expectation" among students. .Failure to supply the laptops would be denial of legitimate expectation amounting to denial of rights and the same is arbitrary, discriminatory, unfair and as violative of principles of natural justice as well as Article 14, the petition states. .On these grounds, the plea prays for a direction to be issued to the Karnataka government to distribute talking laptops to eligible visually impaired students as per the scheme launched in 2014..The matter will be heard next on November 10. .[Read the petition]