Cuttack, June 17: A six-year-old dispute over increasing fee structure by Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) in the state is back in Orissa High Court.

The vacation court has admitted an appeal petition challenging a verdict given by the high court on April 16, 2015 that endorsed the fee structure revision notification issued by the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS). The court has imposed restriction on collection of differential amount of fees from the students with retrospective effect from the date of notification on revised fee structure.

On September 14, 2009, the KVS had issued a notification on revised fee structure with effect from April 1, 2009. But the high court quashed it after a batch of petition challenged it. Subsequently, the KVS issued another notification on revised fee structure on March 19, 2013 and scheduled it to come into effect from April 1, 2013. However, the high court issued a stay order on it after petitions challenged the revision.

But the single judge bench of Justice B.R. Sarangi dismissed the petitions on April 16 and held that "no illegality or irregularity has been committed by issuing the notification revising the fee structure".

According to the March 19, 2013 notification, the tuition fee had remained unchanged but computer and Vidyalaya Vikas Nidhi fees were doubled. The monthly fee structure for Class I to VIII was revised to Rs 600 against Rs 290. Similarly, the monthly fee for Class IX and Class X was revised to Rs 800 against Rs 490.

According to the notification, students of Class XI and Class XII (commerce and humanities) were expected to pay Rs 900 every month against Rs 590. Those taking information practice as an elective subject will have to pay Rs 50 more every month. For science students of Class XI and Class XII, the new monthly fee was fixed at Rs 1,000 against Rs 750.

After the April 16 verdict, the KVS (Bhubaneswar region) issued a circular to principals of all KVs in the state on April 21 to collect the revised fee and also "the difference wherever applicable".

Later, one Pabitra Mohan Jena filed the appeal petition in the high court challenging the April 15 verdict on behalf of the parents of Kendriya Vidyalaya -1, Cuttack. Jena also sought the court's intervention in the notices issued by the principal of the school to parents for payment of arrears according to the revised fee structure notification issued in 2013.

The vacation bench of Justice Sanju Panda and Justice D. P. Choudhury has posted the matter to July 14 for hearing along with replies from Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan and imposed interim restriction on collection of arrears from students. The court, however, allowed collection of current fees on the basis of revised fee structure.

The Kendriya Vidyalaya - 1, Cuttack, had issued individual notices to parents demanding arrears going up to nearly Rs 30,000. "I have received a notice demanding payment of Rs 26,000 arrears from 2009," said Amlan Badan Pattanaik, father of a Class XII pass-out from the school, told The Telegraph today.