Karnataka HC strikes down govt’s powers to regulate fees in private schools

As per the Karnataka Education Act, the government defined District Education Regulating Authority constituted under the chairmanship of deputy commissioner of a district and Section 124A empowers the deputy commissioner to impose penalty on institutions to the extent of Rs 1 lakh and direct the refund of fees collected by an institution in excess of the amount prescribed under Section 48.

The petitioners had contended that “it is in the interest of the general public that more good quality schools are established; autonomy and non-regulation of the school administration in the right of appointment, admission of students and the fee to be charged will ensure more such institutions are established”.

The judge also held that Section 5 (a) and 112 (a) of the Act is contrary to Articles 14 and 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution and the law declared by the Supreme Court in the case of Avinash Mehrotra. Section 5 (a) prescribes child safety norms in schools while Section 112 (a) provides for penalising schools violating the norms.

Associated Managements of Government Recognised English Medium Schools in Karnataka (KAMS), one of the petitioners in the case, argued that the power to fix the fees rests with the private unaided institutions and not with the government. KAMS general secretary Shashikumar said, “It is a historic judgment and a victory for the private unaided institutions. Amending the Karnataka Education Act 1983, contrary to the Supreme Court observation, was totally unconstitutional. In the name of fee regulation, the government interfered in the fixing of fees for the institutions and started harassing many institutions in this regard. I am sure the private institutions can now be autonomous in fixing the fees for admissions without intervention of the government.”