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2022 (5) TMI 1636

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..... egulations of Fees of Unaided Educational Institutions) Act, 2016, which have been extended vide impugned notification issued in exercise of powers Under Section 87 of the 1966 Act? HELD THAT:- It would be a different matter if the Parliament or the State Legislature, as the case may be, were to incorporate such condition in the enactment such as the 2016 Act. Had it been so incorporated, it would then be open to the unaided institutions to question the validity of such a provision, which could be tested by the Constitutional Court on the basis of doctrine of fairness, arbitrariness and other grounds available under Part III of the Constitution of India or otherwise. Suffice it to observe that the change introduced vide the impugned Governm .....

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..... , including in exercise of powers Under Section 87 of the 1966 Act-being a substantial change to the regime predicated in Section 14 of the 2016 Act. - Thus, paragraph 8 of the impugned Government Order/Notification also cannot stand the test of judicial scrutiny. Hence, the same needs to be struck down being unconstitutional and ultra vires. The appeals are partly allowed.
Hon'ble Judges A.M. Khanwilkar, Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and J.B. Pardiwala, JJ. For the Appellant : Avi Singh, Manohar Pratap, Karan Dhalla, Advs. and Ajit Kumar Ekka, AOR For the Respondents : K.M. Nataraj, ASG, Swarupama Chaturvedi, Ritwiz Rishabh, Harish Pandey, Raghvendra S. Srivastva, Advs., Arvind Kumar Sharma, AOR, Jayant K. Sud, Aishwarya Bhati, ASGs, S.K. .....

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..... site; (b) not charge any kind of cost from the parents; (c) disclose complete free structure at the beginning of the academic year in the Booklet issued, alongwith the admission form, by the schools and also be posted in its website; (d) not raise the fee any time during the academic session. (emphasis supplied) 6. In addition, the Appellants have questioned the validity of paragraph 8 of the impugned Order/Notification, which reads thus: 8. In Section 14: (a) in Sub-section(1) for the words, "thirty thousand rupees", "rupees fifty thousand" and "rupees one lac", the words "sixty thousand rupees", "one lakh rupees" and "two lakh rupees" shall respectively be substitute .....

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..... pplied) 10. The challenge in the present appeals is required to be decided on the basis of the principles stated in this judgment. 11. The question is: whether Clause (a) of the third proviso inserted in terms of paragraph 6 of the impugned Government Order/Notification dated 13.04.2018 can be regarded as peripheral or insubstantial change to the provisions of the Punjab (Regulations of Fees of Unaided Educational Institutions) Act, 2016 (for short, 'the 2016 Act'), which have been extended vide impugned notification issued in exercise of powers Under Section 87 of the 1966 Act? 12. Reverting to the stipulation specified in Clause (a), we have no manner of doubt that the same cannot be considered as peripheral and insubstantial c .....

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..... islative intent and mandate of the 2016 Act. In fact, it restates the inbuilt policy, essence and substance of the 2016 Act. Thus, it is in no way a substantial change as in the case of Clause (a), referred to above. Be it noted that as per Clause (c) of paragraph 6 of the impugned Government Order/Notification -- validity whereof has not been challenged -- the unaided institutions are obliged to disclose complete fee structure at the beginning of the academic year. The obligation of the unaided institutions in terms of Clause (b) of the same paragraph is in reference to the disclosure of fee structure as per Clause (c). In other words, the unaided institutions can charge only the disclosed fee structure amount from its students and no furt .....

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..... that the Appellants would be confining their argument to the limited aspects dealt with in this order. 19. We make it clear that we may not be understood to have expressed any opinion either way on the issues that may have to be dealt with by the High Court in the pending proceedings relating to the challenge to the provisions of the 2016 Act. 20. Lastly, we expunge the observations made against the writ Petitioner in Writ Petition No. 7761/2020 (filed before the High Court), in paragraph 34 of the impugned judgment. 21. Accordingly, the appeals are partly allowed in the above terms. 22. No orders as to the costs. 23. Pending application(s), if any, shall stand disposed of. NOTES:- 1. Section 87 in the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 .....

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