HSPA Files Contempt Petition in Telangana HC Against SSED Secretary

The Hyderabad School Parents Association (HSPA) has filed a contempt petition in the Telangana High Court, against the Secretary to the State’s School Education Department of willfully disregarding its orders.

The HSPA’s orders pertain to the regulation of tuition fees imposed by private unaided schools.

A Division Bench comprising Justices Abhinand Kumar Shavili and Namavarapu Rajeshwar Rao admitted the petition and issued a notice to Karuna Vakati, the Secretary.

The HSPA argued that in 2017, a committee headed by the former Vice Chancellor of Osmania University, Prof. T. Thirupathi Rao, was formed to study the tuition fee structure in private unaided schools and submit recommendations to the government. These recommendations were intended to aid the enactment of legislation to regulate fees. However, despite the recommendations, the government failed to enact any legislation.

The Association contended that the absence of a mechanism to regulate fees allowed private unaided schools in Telangana to arbitrarily determine tuition fees and other components, which violated Article 21A and the provisions of the Telangana Educational Institutions Act, 1983.

Consequently, two Government Orders were issued instructing all private unaided schools affiliated with the State Boards not to increase any type of fee for the academic years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, and to charge only tuition fees.

The Parents Association then filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) arguing that the Government Orders did not define what constituted “tuition fees,” thereby granting schools arbitrary discretion to include various fees under this category. They contended that these Government Orders were counterproductive to their intended purpose.

In disposing of the writs, the Court had ordered the Secretary to submit a draft Act to the State, after thoroughly considering the recommendations of the Parents Association, the Prof. T. Thripupathi Committee, and other schools involved in the writ, within three months.

In March 2022, the HSPA approached the court, asserting that despite judicial orders, no legislation or regulation had been formulated.

In response, the Secretary stated that in accordance with the Court’s order, meetings had been held and the recommendations submitted by the Parents Association were taken into account. A draft Act governing the regulation of fee collection by private unaided schools was submitted to the State Government and was currently under consideration. She further explained that for any policy formulation, a decision needed to be made by the Chief Minister and the cabinet, which was not currently feasible due to prevailing circumstances. She requested additional time for formulating a policy on the fee structure.

Last week, the Court ordered compliance and adjourned the matter for a period of three weeks.