Himachal Pradesh High Court
Himachal Pradesh B.Ed. College'S ... vs State Of Himachal Pradesh And Others on 30 November, 2018
Bench: Surya Kant, Dharam Chand Chaudhary
IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA CWP No. 1167 of 2017 .
Decided on: 30.11.2018 Himachal Pradesh B.Ed. College's Association ...Petitioner Versus State of Himachal Pradesh and others ...Respondents Coram The Hon'ble Mr. Justice Surya Kant, Chief Justice.
The Hon'ble Mr. Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary, Judge.
Whether approved for reporting?1 For the petitioner: Mr. Suneet Goel, Advocate.
For the respondents: Mr. Ashok Sharma, Advocate General, with Mr. Ashwani K. Sharma, Additional Advocate General, for respondents No. 1 and 2.
Mr. Neel Kamal Sharma, Advocate, for respondent No. 3.
Mr. Deven Khanna, Advocate, for respondent No. 4.
Surya Kant, Chief Justice. (Oral) The petitioner is an Association of Private B. Ed.
Colleges in the State of Himachal Pradesh. Its principal 1 Whether reporters of the local papers may be allowed to see the judgment?
::: Downloaded on - 01/12/2018 22:57:15 :::HCHP 2grievance in the instant writ petition is against the manner in which fee structure for B. Ed. Courses has been .
prescribed by the Committee purportedly constituted by the State Government. The petitionerAssociation, thus, seeks quashing of the communication dated 1st May, 2017 vide which the revised fee structure, as applicable in the Private
2. to B. Ed. Colleges has been conveyed by the State Government.
To shorten the controversy, it is suffice to mention that in deference to the directions issued by this Court in CWP No. 1862 of 2011, decided on 11th October, 2012, the Government of Himachal Pradesh, Higher Education Department vide notification dated 15th November, 2012 (Annexure P7) constituted a Committee for fixation of fee structure for privately managed B. Ed.
Colleges. The Secretary (Higher Education) to the Government of Himachal Pradesh was appointed as Chairman of the Committee whereas various other senior functionaries of the State Government were nominated as its Members. The abovementioned notification was ::: Downloaded on - 01/12/2018 22:57:15 :::HCHP 3 partially modified on 7th December, 2012 (Annexure P8) and President of Himachal Pradesh B. Ed. College Association .
was also nominated as a Member of the Committee.
3. If further appears that the fee structure, as applicable from the Session 201617 onwards, has been prescribed by a Committee headed by Chairperson of Department of Education H.P. University and also comprising one Associate Professor, one Assistant Professor, one more College Teacher and a Superintendent GradeI of the Directorate of the Higher Education, as is discernible from the proceedings of the meeting of the abovementioned Committee held on 14th September, 2016, a copy whereof has been appended as Annexure P10.
4. The grievance of the petitionerAssociation to the extent that the fee structure ought to have been prescribed on the recommendation/as per decision of the Committee, as notified by the State Government on 15th November, 2012 and 7th December, 2012, instead of another Committee comprising of junior level officers/officials, carry some ::: Downloaded on - 01/12/2018 22:57:15 :::HCHP 4 weightage and needs to be effectively redressed by State Government.
.
5. While this Court does not possess any expertise to determine the fee structure for B. Ed. Colleges, we are satisfied that the Committee constituted by the State Government on 15th November, 2012 with further modification on 7th December, 2012 surely consists of such persons who, on the basis of their experience, knowledge, information and records, can determine a fair, reasonable and viable fee structure.
6. The writ petition is accordingly disposed of with a direction that let the Secretary (Higher Education), being the Chairman, convene the meeting of the Committee, hear the representative of the petitionerAssociation as also the Parents Teacher Association representing the interest of the students or other stakeholders and thereafter determine such reasonable, fair, just and equitable fee structure which may not cause unbearable financial burden on the poor, middle class or students belonging to marginal section of the ::: Downloaded on - 01/12/2018 22:57:15 :::HCHP 5 society and at the same time, which may not force the Private Colleges to shut down. Let the needful be done .
within a period of two months.
7. Pending miscellaneous applications, if any, also stand disposed of.
(Surya Kant) Chief Justice r (Dharam Chand Chaudhary) Judge November 30, 2018 ( rajni ) ::: Downloaded on - 01/12/2018 22:57:15 :::HCHP