PHC extends stay order on summer vacation fee

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday extended stay order on summer vacation fee by restraining the private educational institutions from receiving the two months summer vacation fee till September 24.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Muhammad Naeem Anwar extended stay order on two months summer vacation fee and transport fee till September 24, next hearing in the petitions.

A team of lawyers including Zahidullah Zahid, Abbas Khan Sangeen, Nazish Muzaffar, Iftikhar Hussain, Saima Aamir, Sanaullah and Syed Bilal Jan appeared before the court in two writ petitions filed through Peshawar Bar Association and All Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Parents Association.

The lawyers submitted before the court that despite the court’s stay order the management of private educational institutions were harassing the students and parents to deposit the two months summer vacation fee.

They also informed the bench that the educational institutions have started expelling students from the schools who as per the court’s direction did not submit the fee.

They submitted that the schools management had started torturing students. The lawyers said that the parents had registered cases stating their offspring were being punished for not depositing the fee and were made to stand in the sun as punishment.

Abdul Sattar Khan, counsel for private educational institutions, requested the court to transfer the petitions to other bench as he had already given decision in favour of parents in the case. The chief justice turned down his request and observed that he would hear the petitions and would decide all the cases on September 24 after final arguments.

Earlier, the PHC had allowed petitions against the summer vacation fee and other fee, which was challenged by the private educational institutions in the Supreme Court on the ground that they were not heard in the case.

The Supreme Court had set aside the decision and sent it back to the PHC for fresh decision after giving a chance to private educational institutions to present their plea in the case. The PHC has once again started hearing the petitions.