Despite a government notification stating that private and unaided schools could not increase fees for the academic year 2010-11, the students and parents may have to face fee hike as the Bombay High Court on Wednesday continued its earlier order permitting the hike.
A division bench of
Chief Justice Anil Dave and Justice S.C. Dharmadhikari on Wednesday granted the government till May 8 to decide on the report submitted by the Bansal Committee, formed to decide on the rights of private unaided schools to plan their fee structure.
The court continued its earlier order of December where it had said the decision of the Bansal Committee report would not be made operational for two weeks.
“The government’s new resolution is redundant. It is another way to circumvent the HC order which had suspended the government resolution of May 8, 2009,” said Prateek Sakseria, advocate for the association of private and unaided schools.
The government resolution of May 8, 2009 stated that if the private schools increases the fees without permission of the Fee Control Committee (which is yet to be formed), then the permission granted to these schools, as well as the No Objection Certificates for constructing schools on government land would be revoked. This resolution was challenged by various private and unaided schools.
On Wednesday, government pleader S.R. Nagrolkar told the court that they needed eight weeks to decide on the matter.