KARACH: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday suspended a new notification issued by the provincial education authorities to provide 20 per cent concession to parents in school fees for two months till May 14.

The two-judge bench headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar also issued notices to the education authorities and the provincial law officer for next hearing.

The privately managed schools again approached the SHC against the concession in tuition fees after their first petition was disposed of last week for being infructuous since the provincial authorities had issued a new notification/special order, superseding the previous one challenged in the court, to provide concession in school fees of April and May after making amendments in the rules.

The petitioners challenged the special order issued by the director general of the directorate of inspection/registration of private institutions on April 28, notifying the 20pc mandatory concession in tuition fee again.

On April 29, the court had vacated an interim stay order against an earlier notification of 20pc concession

They also disputed the notification issued by the school education and literacy department on April 27, to add rules 19-A to 19-E in the Sindh Private Educational Institutions (Regulations & Control) Rules 2005 empowering the directorate of inspection/registration of private institutions to issue a special order in extraordinary circumstances, including enhancement or reduction in fee and remuneration of teachers and other staff.

The lawyers for the petitioners contended that the rules were framed purportedly under Section 15 of the Sindh Private Educational Institution (Regulation and Control) Ordinance, 2001 and the ordinance was supposedly amended by the Sindh Private Educational Institutions (Regulation and Control) (Amendment) Act, 2003.

They further argued that an ordinance could not be amended by an act nor any rules could be framed under an ordinance and thus the rules of 2005 as well as the impugned amendment were of no legal affect.

The counsel for petitioners further submitted that if it was assumed that the ordinance in question was the parent statute, even then the impugned amendment and special order being beyond the scope of the ordinance and were ultra vires of the ordinance, rules and Constitution.

The lawyers further contended that under Rule 19 of Rules 2005, the government could only issue “guidelines” for effective and transparent institutional management etc and it had no power under the ordinance or rules to pass any order or to direct schools to grant mandatory concession in tuition fee under any circumstances.

They asserted that the impugned action was discriminatory as on one hand private schools had been directed to pay full salary to the staff for the period in question and on the other hand directives were issued to grant 20pc concession in tuition fees.

The counsel argued that the impugned decision was biased as it was taken without hearing the privately managed schools and their association and maintained that it was discriminatory as no other profession and business sector had been directed to reduce its income mandatorily because of the current pandemic.

The lawyers insisted that the matters regarding appointment of teachers and admission of students were contractual issues subject to certain terms and conditions and could not be modified by the government under any circumstances.

The bench observed that the petitioners were aggrieved mainly by two clauses of the impugned special order regarding the mandatory 20pc concessions in tuition fees for April and May and refund or adjustment if already collected the full fees for these months.

“Issue notice to the respondents as well as to learned advocate general Sindh for 14.05.2020 at 11am. Till the next date of hearing, operation of clauses (ii) and (iv) of the impugned special order dated 28.04.2020 shall remain suspended,” the order said.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2020