The Supreme Court of Pakistan has struck down demands of increasing the school fee against the order of the apex court.
Following the ruling, any illegal hike in fees would be considered null and void. Private school fees will now be reverted to January 2017’s rates.
A three-judge bench while hearing petitions regarding exuberant fee increase by private schools passed this judgment on Friday. The bench comprised of Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Faisal Arab.
In a 65-page verdict, the top court said that private schools had “excessively increased fee since 2017 in violation of the law” and that the additional amount should be “struck down.”
It will be deemed that there was no increase in fee since 2017 and fees were frozen at the rates prevailing in January 2017.
The three-judge bench also spelled out a recalculation method saying that the fee charged in January 2017 should be considered as base fee and an annual increase will be calculated on its basis.
It urged the regulators to supervise the process and any increment approved by them [and] shall be treated as the chargeable fee.
The ruling has also barred private schools from recovering the amount that was reduced from the fees under Supreme Court’s 2018 judgment. It ordered a 20 percent reduction in fees charged by high-end private schools
The regulators shall closely monitor the fee being charged by private schools to ensure strict compliance with the law and the rules/regulations. Complaint cells shall be set up to deal with complaints arising out of an increase in fee in violation of the law/rules/regulations.
When it should be implement by All Private School ? Wo to Mannte He NAHI
jab app propakistani par comment karna band karo gay
aur kesi kam danday par lago gay
Need to proceed again them in contempt of court. This is the only way to bring them on table.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) in its detailed order dated 13-9-19 vide Para 50 (ii) states as under:
(ii) In view of our finding that schools have excessively increased fee since 2017 in violation of the law, all such increases are struck down. It will be deemed that there was no increase in fee since 2017 and fees were frozen at the rates prevailing in January, 2017.”
The school management should be requested to share the fee as charged by them in January 2017 as the same have been frozen and deemed that there was no increase in fee since January 2017
Moreover the SC order requires vide Para 50 (iii) as under:
(iii) Schools fee shall be recalculated using the fee prevailing in 2017 as the base fee in accordance with the provisions of Laws of Punjab and Sindh, respectively (adding annual increases permitted by the law/rules/regulations) till 2019 and onwards. The process of recalculation shall be supervised by the regulators and only the fee approved by them shall be treated as the chargeable fee.
In view of above , the school management was bound to apply to the regulator for the increase in fee before issuing the fee challan to the students. Therefore, school management should ask to share the approval of the regulator for the charging of the exorbitant fee with the students/ parents before asking them for the payment of the already issued fee challlans.
The Para 50 (iv) of the SC order requires as under:
(iv) Any excess fee found to have been charged shall be adjusted in the future fee.
The SC order specifically referred to excessive charged during all these over two & half years, that is from January 2017 to July 2019 and the excessive fee, as per the recalculation as ordered in (iii) above should be adjusted against the future fee.
The school management should ask to comply with the above directions of the SC and adjust all the excessive fee charged from January 2017 to July 2019 and replaced the already issued challans to the students and in case of already excessively charged in the previous years then adjust the excess against the future fee per the (iv) above.
Failure to comply with the directions of the SC, would tantamount to contempt of court and parents can initiate contempt proceeding against the school management.
Alternatively stay order can be obtained against the issued fee challan as under