On Thursday the Sindh High Court (SHC) issued notices to the provincial authorities directing them to respond to a petition lodged by private school owners against the COVID-19 Emergency Relief Ordinance, 2020.
Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar’s two-judge bench asked the official respondents to respond to the petition by the next hearing scheduled for 3 June. They also rejected the petitioners’ plea to stop the provincial government from taking any strong action against them over not complying with their orders regarding the 20 percent fee cut.
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Before the bench, the petitioners’ counsel argued that the Sindh government made it mandatory for private schools to raise 80 percent of the total monthly fee and failed to acknowledge the financial effect of this on schools. He pleaded with the bench to declare null and void this reduction of 20 percent.
Last week, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail approved the Corona Emergency Relief Ordinance, 2020; it is intended to provide assistance to people in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.