ASSOCIATION OF INDIA SCHOOLS Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners are Private Unaided Schools and Association of such Private Unaided Schools. Their grievance is directed against a Government Order dated 29.01.2021 issued by the respondent-State Government, inter alia restraining the educational institutions from collecting fees for the academic year 2020-2021 in excess of 70% of the tuition fees.

(2.) The main ground on which the petitioners seek to challenge the impugned Government Order is that the petitioner-Institutions are Private Unaided Schools, imparting education as per the syllabus prescribed by the Central Boards such as CIE, ISCE, CBSE etc. It is contended that these Private Unaided Schools are affiliated to other Boards and not to the State Board. It is therefore contended that the impugned Government Order could not have been issued by the State Government binding the Private Unaided Schools who were not affiliated to the State Board. It is further contended that the issue as to whether the State Governments could have any say in the matter of administration, including admissions and fixing of fees in case of Private Unaided Institutions was considered by the Constitution Bench of the Apex Court in the case of T.M.A Pai Foundation and Others Vs. State of Karnataka and Others (1995) 4 SCC 1, in favour of the Private Unaided Educational Institutions and more particularly, the minority institutions.

(3.) However, when it was contended by the learned Senior Counsel Sri Madhusudan R.Naik, on behalf of the petitioners that the issue stands covered by a decision of the Hon 'ble Apex Court in the case of Indian School, Jodhpur and Another Vs. State of Rajasthan and Others, (2021) SCC OnLine SC 359, the learned Additional Advocate General Sri Dhyan Chinnappa, would admit that the Hon 'ble Apex Court has declared that the State Government could not have issued such a Government Order in the guise of invoking powers conferred under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, or the State Education Act or invoking the executive powers of the State under Article 162 of the Constitution of India. However, the learned Additional Advocate General would submit that the directions given by the Hon 'ble Apex Court in the case of Indian School, Jodhpur (supra) would be binding on the petitioner-Institutions and all educational institutions throughout the country including the State of Karnataka. The learned Additional Advocate General would therefore, submit that the directions issued by the Hon 'ble Apex Court should be followed by the petitioner- Institutions and he would invite directions at the hands of this Court to ensure the directions are complied with. Further more, the learned AAG submits that the petitioner- Institutions should not be permitted to coerce the parents or the wards to pay the school fees on the ground that what was directed by the Apex Court was to give a discount of 15%, while the State Government had directed a discount of 30%.