SHC orders private schools to submit revised challans after fee cut

On December 13, the SC had ordered private schools to reduce their fees by 20%

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed private schools to submit implementation reports to the court orders that restrained them from increasing their fees in excess of 5%. The report should also include the revised fee challans, reflecting the new fee structure after the reduction in the tuition fee.

A three-member bench, comprising Justice Aqeel Abbasi, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Ashraf Jahan, heard the contempt petition against the non-implementation of court orders regarding the unchecked increments in tuition fees.

The petitioner's counsel maintained that the court had earlier restrained the private schools from collecting fees in excess of the last notified fee structure before September 20, 2017, and also to reimburse any additional amount they may have charged since then.

SC ruling

On December 13, the Supreme Court had heard a plea against the high court's ruling, following which the SC had ordered private schools to reduce their fees by 20%.

The counsel for the schools told the SHC that it remained unclear whether the SC's order would be in effect from the day it was announced.

The SHC, in its remarks, said that the SC's order was 40 pages long and the point of it being unclear was unjustified. The court added that the orders arising from the contempt of court proceedings were not being acted upon.

The schools' counsel was given all instructions in a written form so that the order remained clear, the court remarked, adding that this was a clear petition for contempt of court. The court warned that if the school owners failed to act upon the orders, the court may indict them.

The SHC bench directed the schools' counsel to submit a written response, detailing the steps taken for the implementation of court orders before the next hearing. The parents' counsel maintained that the Sindh government had submitted incorrect information to the court.

The court asked the petitioner's counsel to submit a statement, highlighting the incorrect information provided by the Sindh government. Besides, the school owners were also ordered to inform the court about the steps taken for the implementation of its orders, dated September 20, 2017.

Next steps

In a dialogue with the private schools' counsel, the court remarked that its order was not annulled by the Supreme Court, which is what the private school owners had been hoping for when they filed the review petition, but that they were still giving the school owners a chance.

Justice Aqeel Abbasi, in his remarks, said, "You are not cooperating with the court even though you have been shown leniency several times." He added that the court had ordered the schools' managements to submit revised fee challans.

"You must now give the documents in black and white so we can also order the parents to submit the fees," he said. "You have modern systems and top auditors but still you are not able to prepare the documents. Now we do not want just papers but also an affidavit," Justice Abbasi ordered.

He added that until the SC released its orders, the schools must comply with the high court's petty order. "Write whatever the amount comes after 5 percent decrease and submit it to us," he told the schools' counsel. The hearing on the contempt petition was adjourned until December 20.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th, 2018.