Colleges move HC over fee

The Andhra Pradesh Private Engineering Colleges Managements Association (APPECMA) and some educational societies and individuals filed a petition in the High Court on Thursday, challenging the state government’s decision to fix a uniform tuition fee of Rs 35,000 per year in private engineering colleges.

The petitioners, APPECMA president BS Appa Rao and others, requested the court to direct the state government to act in accordance with the rules framed in 2007 and to consider the recommendations made by the AFRC (Admission & Fee Regulatory Committee) on fixing the fee for  2012-13. They wanted the court to declare the government’s unilateral decision without considering AFRC recommendations as illegal and contrary to the rules.

The petitioners claimed that managements’ right to fix the fee had been upheld by the Supreme Court in the TMA Pai vs State of Karnataka case. Presently, the AFRC is empowered to consider appropriateness of the fee as it was constituted pursuant to the decisions of the apex court and granted statutory recognition in  Andhra Pradesh. Therefore, AFRC’s recommendations were binding on the state government, they contended.

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