The Bombay High Court had stayed the Maharashtra Government decision on the hike in school fees for the upcoming tenure. On May 6, the Maharashtra government said that there will be no hike in the school fees. However, on Friday the Bombay High Court had stayed the decision. The court had passed an interim order and stayed the resolution given by the government in this pandemic.
A petition was filed by the educational institutions including the Association of Indian Schools, Global Education Foundation, Kasegaon Education Trust, Sant Dnyaneshwar Mauli Sanstha. This was heard by the division bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Riyaz Chagla.
Two resolutions were passed to date regarding the fess. As of March 30, the School Education department informed that the private schools cannot compel the parents to pay the fees. Also, in May the government warned the schools against increasing the fees.
The educational institutions weren’t happy with this decision. Hence, they approached the court to set the decision aside. As the case was pending, they asked for a stay in this decision.
The Kasegaon Education Trust mentioned that this decision was in violation of their fundamental rights. They submitted the petition through Senior Counsel Milind Sathe and advocate Saket Mone, stating that the court has put unnecessary restrictions on the administration of educational institutions. This right gave them the power to fix and regulate the fee structure.
The institutions also reported that the notice issued on May 29 hovers action under the Epidemic Diseases Act. This is not a legal practice of statutory powers by the state.
The petitioners asked for a stay to that order.
The state government opposed the plea that the educational trust proposed to declare the GR as unconstitutional and set it aside.
After recording all the submissions, Justice Bhuyan issued a stay for the government’s decision until further orders are given. The final hearing is postponed
After hearing submissions, the bench led by Justice Bhuyan stayed the operation of the government resolution until further orders pending final hearing and disposal of the pleas.