The Punjab government will challenge the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order allowing private schools to collect tuition fee for the period of the lockdown, Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla said on Wednesday.
Justice Nirmaljit Kaur on Tuesday allowed private schools to collect tuition fee “irrespective of offering online classes” to students during the lockdown period. The court also allowed schools to collect the admission fee. But it restrained schools from rising the fee for 2020-21 and asked them to adopt the 2019- 20 fee structure.
“The Punjab government respects the High Court’s decision, but because of the adverse impact of the lockdown on the livelihood of the people, the State will appeal to the two-judge Bench...,” Mr. Singla said at a press conference here. “In the interest of all parties involved in the case, such as parents, teachers, staff and school administrators, the government will file a Letter Patent Appeal (LPA) before a two-judge Bench in the next two or three days,” he said.
A Letter Patent Appeal (LPA) can be filed by a petitioner against a decision of a single judge before another Bench of the same court.
