Law: Punjab Educational Institutions (Reconstitution) Act, 2021

Section: 2(a)(b)(f), 3, 4

Law: Constitution of Pakistan

Section: 199, 4, 9, 10-A, 25, 25-A

 (a) Punjab Educational Institutions (Reconstitution) Act (XXII of 2021) Ss.2(a)(b)(f), 3 & 4---Constitution of Pakistan, Art.199---Constitutional petition---Maintainability---School enhancing tuition fee during the middle of an academic year, challenge to---Briefly, the petitioners, being parents/students challenged before the High Court the revised fee schedule and allied charges imposed by the school for the second term of the academic year 2024 (September-December), after fees for the first term (May-August 2024) had already been received, including enhanced tuition, optional summer school charges, books and stationery expenses and class change adjustment bills, on the ground that these demands were issued mid-academic year through demand notices without a clear regulatory framework or demonstrated approval process---The core issue requiring determination before the High Court was whether the school administration/Board of Governors was legally empowered to enhance tuition fees and allied charges during the middle of an ongoing academic year, in the absence of a defined mechanism regulating the timing and quantum of such increase? ---Held: Firstly, the constitutional petition against the school (Sadiq Public School) was maintainable since Governor appointed members of the school and most of the finances were funded by the government---The fees were meant to be fixed at the beginning of academic year---There were no rules and regulations which dealt with time to time and quantum to increase the fee fixation during the academic year and the same did not describe quantum for such increase of the fee and other allied educational expenditures for the students during the academic sessions---Board of directors of the school was directed: i) to devise structural mechanism for the fixation of fee in future to cater all such situations according to needs and requirements; ii) to re-examine the earlier decision after hearing the petitioners or their nominees regarding the impugned fee enhancement and pass well-reasoned order under law, till then, the interim relief/arrangement already executed between the parties were to continue---Constitutional petition was…