Central Govt guidelines for pvt coaching classes challenged in HC

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice R M Joshi directed the State Government to hold a proper hearing on the memorandum of the petitioner before starting the process of making the proposed law for the regulation of private coaching classes.

The HC bench also ordered that if the say of the petitioner is rejected, the order should be passed and the petitioner be informed of the reasons.

Professional Teachers' Association filed a petition challenging the Central Government's guidelines regarding the regulation of private coaching. The court disposed of the petition by delivering these orders.

The Central Government wrote to the Chief Secretaries of all the States and union Territories in the country on January 16, 2024, and issued guidelines regarding the law for the regulation of private coaching classes within their jurisdictions. The States were directed to form policy and frame laws for the implementation as per the guidelines.

The organisation which filed the petition submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister on February 5, 2024, requesting to give an opportunity to the organisation to present its views before any such policy is decided.

The Government was also requested to consider the objections of the organisation as well as additional suggestions for the law-making process. The Government did not decide on the memorandum of the petitioner. Therefore, the petitioners submitted memoranda to the Chief Secretary, the Law and Justice Department and the School Education Department. However, no decision was made on it.

So, the association filed the petition through adv Amol Ram Joshi. Senior lawyer Rajendra Deshmukh appeared on behalf of Joshi, while public prosecutor Amarjitsinh Girase represented the Government.

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Orders were passed in the year 2000, but, were not converted into law. In 2018, there was an attempt to create a similar law. At that time, a committee of 'stakeholders' was formed. “On both these occasions the petitioner association cooperated. We have given a memorandum to the Chief Secretary, Law and Justice and School Education Department. We should be given an opportunity to raise objections and give suggestions and comments before the enactment of the law. The instructions should be given to constitute a committee for the formulation of the law as it was in 2018,” this was mentioned in the petition.

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Regulation of private coaching classes which have turnover in crores of rupees

Meanwhile, the association submitted a memorandum to the Chief Secretary of State. “The State government will adopt the Central Government's policy of business friendliness and growth while regulating the private coaching classes, which currently have a turnover of nearly Rs 53, 000 crores and a turnover of nearly Rs 11,000 crores’s GST in the economy. In future, it may have a turnover of nearly Rs 1.5 lakh crores and will give Rs 25,000 crores GST,” it was mentioned in the memorandum.