Allowed

St.Peters College of Education v. the State of Ap

Andhra Pradesh HC14 Feb 2024WP/4096/2024

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The High Court disposed of a writ petition seeking a directive to fix fee structures for a petitioner education institution for the block period 2023-26. The Court issued orders directing the petitioner to submit required data and pay penalties, while directing the Commission to tentatively fix fees based on existing minimums pending final data processing.

What did the court decide?

Directed petitioner to submit data and pay fees; directed Commission to tentative fix fees and include petitioner in counseling list; directed State Government to display petitioner on official websit

St.Peters College of Education Vs the… — Pension and Retirement Benefits | Andhra Pradesh HC (2024)

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THE HONOURABLE SMT JUSTICE V. SUJATHA

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W.P. NO.4096 OF 2024

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ORDER:

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This Writ Petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution

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of India seeking the following relief:

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“ to issue an appropriate writ more in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the 3rd Respondent in not determining the fee structure of the Petitioner institution for the block period 2023-26 on the ground that the Petitioner has not submitted the data as required despite not considering the representation of the Petitioner dated 12.02.2024 to determine the fee structure as fixed for the previous block period, as per the guidelines issued by the Division Bench of this Honourable Court in WA No.607 of 2023, Dated 21.06.2023 as being arbitrary, illegal, unwarranted and violative of Articles 14 and 19 of the Constitution of India and violative of the Andhra Pradesh Higher Education Regulatory and Monitoring Commission (APHERMC) Act 19 of 2020 and the Rules framed thereunder and consequently direct the 3rd Respondent Commission to fix the fee structure to the Petitioner-Institution for the academic year 2023-26...”

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Heard learned counsel for the petitioner, learned

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Government Pleader for Higher Education appearing for the respondent No.1, Ms.S.Parineetha, learned Standing Counsel appearing for respondent No.2, Sri C.Sudesh Anand, learned Standing Counsel appearing for respondent No.3 and Ms.Y.Ratnaprabha, learned Standing Counsel appearing for respondent No.4.

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During hearing, learned counsel for the petitioner and learned counsel appearing for the respondents would submit that

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in similar set of circumstances, this Court passed detailed orders in W.P.No.18309 of 2023 dated 25.07.2023 and W.P.No.18649 of 2023 dated 27.07.2023 relying on the judgment of the Hon’ble Division Bench of this Court passed an order in Writ Appeal No.607 of 2023, dated 21.06.2023 and requested this Hon’ble Court to issue similar directions even in this Writ Petition also.

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In view of the specific request made by learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Government Pleader for Higher Education, let there be a similar order passed in W.P.No.18309 of 2023 dated 25.07.2023 and W.P.No.18649 of 2023 dated 27.07.2023 even in this case also.

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Hence, the Writ Petition is disposed of with the following directions:

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i. The petitioner(s)/college(s) is/are directed to furnish all the data as required by the Commission for fixing the fee for the block period 2023-24 to 2025-26 along with representation (if not submitted) by paying the processing fee with penalty as suggested in the notification within a period of one week from today.

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ii. On receipt of the same, the Commission is directed to process the representation of the petitioner(s,) immediately on or before commencement of the upcoming counseling.

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iii. The State and Commission are directed to receive the relevant data submitted by the petitioner(s)/college(s) as per notification dated 30.06.2022 and the Commission shall tentatively fix the fee that can be collected by the college(s), for the courses offered, on par with the minimum fee that is being fixed in the colleges in the

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State and recommend the same to the State Government in five days.

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iv. The said minimum fee fixed, shall be treated as a tentative fee and the correct fee would be fixed by the Commission after due processing of the data submitted by the college.

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v. After receiving the request from the Commission, the State Government shall display the petitioner(s)/college(s) in the list of colleges at official website for participating in the upcoming web counselling in B.Ed. courses for the present Academic Year 202324.

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vi. The State Government, shall caution the students, taking admission into the courses offered by the colleges, by informing the students that the fee shown in the admission process, which is being collected initially, is a tentative fee and shall be subject to further change depending upon the final fee that would be fixed by the Commission.

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