The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Penalty clause for fee violation stayed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 29, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Penalty clause for fee violation stayed

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, JUNE 28. A key clause of an order, passed by the Permanent Committee for the Fixation of Fee for Private Professional Educational Institutions, prescribing punishment for erring colleges was today stayed by the Madras High Court.

Staying the operation of Clause 7, Justice R. Balasubramanian also admitted a writ petition filed by the All-India Medical and Engineering Colleges Association.

After laying down the fee structure for accredited and non-accredited self-financing engineering colleges, the committee said in Clause 7, "any deviation from this order will entail serious penal consequences such as withdrawal of approval by the All-India Council for Technical Education and disaffiliation by the university concerned as well as imposition of a fine."

In its order on June 8, the committee fixed an annual fee of Rs. 32,500 for non-accredited undergraduate engineering courses in self-financing colleges. In accredited institutions, the fee was Rs. 40,000. The fee structure for medical courses has not yet been announced.

In his petition, the association president, T.D. Naidu, said the committee had finalised the fee structure without giving any opportunity to the managements, which had made huge investments. Even the Supreme Court had held that private unaided professional colleges had the full autonomy in administering the college and the right included the right to fix the fee structure as well.

The committee-fixed fee would be insufficient even for day-to-day maintenance, including salary for the college staff, said Mr. Naidu.

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