Bengaluru: The Karnataka Unaided School Managements’ Association (KUSMA) plans to file a Rs. 100-crore civil suit against Education Department officials for harassing private school managements and enforcing the State government’s 1994 Language Policy though it was struck down by the apex court.

Speaking at a press conference here on Friday, advocate K.V. Dhananjay said the association was also planning to file a contempt case against the government for not abiding by the Supreme Court judgement, which said the State could not impose the medium of instruction.

“Currently, the policy does not exist any more and they will have to follow the apex court order. The Education Department officials are harassing us using their official capacity,” he said.

Mr. Dhanajay said they had 1,800 private school managements and all of them were imparting education in English medium even though they had Kannada-medium permission.

“We have made these submissions in court and the government cannot say these schools are illegal,” he said.

He said their member-schools had sought change in medium of instruction from Kannada to English.

“Not registering our member-schools as English medium is against the Constitution as the courts have said that choosing the medium of instruction should be the right of the parents and the State cannot impose language policy,” he said.

He also warned that cases would be filed against officials and they would have to bear the brunt. He, however, said the association would announce when they would approach the courts at a meeting on December 8.

Mr. Dhanajay also slammed the government for delaying arriving at a decision and said the government was “wasting” its time by deciding to file a curative petition.

He, however, said the association would ensure that all member-schools introduce Kannada as a language from the next academic year.

Meanwhile, Education Department officials, who have decided to file a curative petition, received various suggestions from experts such as giving prominence to Kannada as a language if all their options fail.