CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Friday upheld the validity of the Tamil Nadu Schools (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act 2009.
In its 52-page common judgment disposing of a batch of writ petitions, the First Bench comprising Chief Justice H.L. Gokhale and Justice K.K. Sasidharan, said the Act was in consonance with the law laid down by the Supreme Court, and it by and large struck a balance between institutions’ autonomy and measures to prevent commercialisation of education. There were sufficient guidelines in the statute for either approving or fixing the fees, the Bench said. However, the Bench held Section 11 of the Act as ultra vires Article 14 of the Constitution. The power of the District Committee or its members under Section 11 (2) of the Act and Rules 4(4) and 4(5) to enter private schools or its premises or those of the management at any time for search, inspection and seizure are held to be arbitrary. The petitioners, the Tamil Nadu Nursery, Matriculation and Higher Secondary Schools Association and others which were unaided private school managements, sought to declare the legislation and its rules as unconstitutional.Additional Advocate-General P.Wilson pointed out that several commissions, including the Kothari Commission on education, had emphasised appropriate measures with regard to reforms in the education sector.
The Bench said the impugned Act in no way fixed a rigid fee.
