KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Wednesday extended till April 29 an interim stay order against a notification issued by the provincial authorities to provide a 20 per cent concession in school fees to parents after the petitioners assured it that no coercive action would be taken against any student.

Earlier, the bench, through an interim order, had suspended the operation of the impugned notification and issued notices to the respondents after the petitioners challenged the notification issued by the Directorate of Inspection/Registration of Private Institutions, Sindh School Education and Literacy Department, on April 1 for private schools to provide relief in the form of concession of at least 20pc in the April and May fees.

When the matter came up for hearing on Wednesday, Additional Advocate General Ghulam Shabbir Shah undertook to file comments before the next hearing.

However, he pointed out there was a serious apprehension that the privately managed schools might expel students or take other coercive action against them in case of non-payment of full tuition fee due to the prevailing situation.

SHC upholds life term of two appellants in constable killing case

The counsel for the petitioners stated that none of the petitioners would take any coercive action against the students who were unable to pay full tuition fee because of the current situation.

They further submitted that some other identical petitions might also be taken up for hearing along with this matter on the next date.

The bench directed the office to fix other identical petitions along with the present case on April 29 and said that interim order would continue till the next hearing.

The TYMS Education Private Limited and others petitioned the SHC and challenged the notification arguing that the respondents had no authority or jurisdiction to issue such a notification and it was also not mentioned in the notification whether such a decision was taken in any meeting held by the competent authority or by the cabinet.

The petitioners further submitted that the decision was taken without hearing the privately managed schools and their association and maintained that the decision was arbitrary and against the settled principles of natural justice.

They added that the question of an increase in the tuition fee had already been decided by the Supreme Court.

Conviction in cop killing case maintained

Another division bench of the SHC on Wednesday upheld life imprisonment handed down by an antiterrorism court to two men in the murder of a policeman.

The ATC had sentenced Junaid-ur-Rehman and Mohammad Rashid to life in prison in May 2016 for killing Constable Mohammad Shafiq in a Korangi locality in December 2011.

The convicts through their lawyers had challenged the conviction before the SHC and after hearing both sides and examining the record and proceedings of the case, the two-judge bench headed by Justice K.K. Agha dismissed the appeals and maintained the trial court’s order.

According to the prosecution, a police patrol had chased the accused as they fled after robbing a man near the Nasir Jump traffic intersection. However, they opened fire on the policemen to escape arrest, killing constable Shafiq.

It added that the police arrested Junaid from the crime scene after a shootout while Rashid escaped, but was arrested a few days after the incident. Four cases were registered against the accused persons at the Korangi police station.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2020