HC tags new PIL with pending cases

Hyderabad: Telangana State High Court will hear all pending cases relating to school fee hike together.According to the Hyderabad Schools Parents' Association (HSPA), the court had heard a PIL filed by it and sought to know the action taken by the government to curb the menace of rampant hikes in school fees in the State of Telangana.

However, when it was brought to the notice of the bench that the government had pleaded helplessness (in a counter filed by it) in the face of the multiple stay orders granted by the court, the Chief Justice ordered all the cases (where stay has been granted) referred to by the government to, to be listed together for hearing.

Following this development, all these cases would now be heard together as a batch on March 29, which the date of next hearing.The HSPA said on Tuesday that the State government has for long been washing its hands off the issue of school fee hike citing the stay orders granted by the courts. Even if there was positive movement in any one case, the orders issued in other cases were proving to be an impediment.

"Now that the court has decided to tag all the cases together and hear them together as a batch, we can surely expect some progress, and hopefully some good news also, on this long pending issue," it said.Some of the cases that have been tagged and will be heard together include cases related to GO MS No. 42 of 2010. The GO had ordered the creation of District Fee Regulatory Committees but has been under

stay ever since. Cases related to the collection of huge one-time fee or admission fee, on which the HSPA had filed a PIL, asking for implementation of GO MS 91 of 2009. As per this GO schools cannot collect "one-time fee" under any name of more than Rs 5,000 at the time of admission.

Earlier, show-cause notices issued against a host of schools were stayed by the court and once, this is taken up it will be very difficult for any school in Telangana to take admission fee of more than Rs 5,000.

Further, a case related to government memo issued in January 2018 stopping the schools from hiking any fees. It was widely welcomed by all across the state. However, the State High Court had stayed the implementation of the same in a writ petition filed by ISMA (Independent Schools Management Association).Welcoming the court's order on Tuesday, the HSPA hoped for good progress on the issue for which it has been fighting for the last ten years.