Allahabad HC refuses to stay Yogi govt order barring private schools from hiking fees

A bench comprising Justices Anil Kumar and Saurabh Lavania has, however, demanded a response from the UP advocate general.

A file photo of the Allahabad High Court (representational image) | Commons

New Delhi: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court Monday issued notice on a petition challenging the state government’s order barring private schools from hiking their fee in the current financial year due to the Covid-19 crisis.

A bench comprising Justices Anil Kumar and Saurabh Lavania demanded a response from the UP advocate general, while refusing to stay the government directive.

The court was hearing a petition filed by the Associations of Private Schools of Uttar Pradesh, challenging two administrative orders passed by the principal secretary, education, UP, and the additional chief secretary, UP, on 27 April and 1 May respectively, barring the fee hike.

The petition has demanded that the orders be quashed for violating Constitutional provisions, including Articles 14, 19(1)(g) (freedom to practice any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business), and 254 (inconsistency between central and state laws).

The petitioner, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal and assisted by advocate Manish Vaish, argued that the government had unconstitutionally discriminated against unaided schools and restricted their revenue, while no other private occupation has been similarly restrained.

The court, however, refused to stay the orders, and posted the matter for hearing on 18 June.

‘Domino effect on millions of people’

While the government cited the impact of Covid-19 under UP Disaster Management Act 2005 to issue the orders, the petition contends that this Act is unconstitutional, as it stood superseded by the central law — the Disaster Management Act 2005.

The association also asserted that such an order could not have been passed by the executive without any statutory backing. Merely because Covid-19 has been declared a disaster under the Disaster Management Act 2005, it does not give the executive the authority to pass an order barring schools from hiking their fees, the association has contended.

“From the economic point of view, considering the amount of employment unaided schools generate and the livelihood of millions they maintain, it is manifestly arbitrary to single-handedly restrict its revenue, which would have a domino effect on the livelihood of millions of people eventually defeating the whole object sought to be achieved,” the petition states.

It also objected to the reasoning of the state government in issuing the orders, as the latter had cited financial difficulties that parents might face during the pandemic. The petition said that no such complaint against a fee hike has been received so far, and in the absence of any such grievance being raised, the government could not have, suo motu, retrained the schools from enhancing their fees.

The petitioner further cited the U.P. Fees Regulation Act, 2018, which lays down the permissible maximum fee increase for schools and contended that in view of this law, the schools are entitled to a minimum enhancement of fee.