English Medium Schools: SC stays HC order against VAT on fees
The Supreme Court yesterday stayed till January 29 a High Court verdict that declared imposition of 7.5 percent value added tax (VAT) on tuition fees of English medium schools illegal.
A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the order following a petition filed by the National Board of Revenue, seeking a stay on the HC verdict.
The apex court also asked the NBR to file a leave-to-appeal petition with the court by January 29 against the HC judgment.
Following a writ petition, the HC on December 12 last year declared the imposition of VAT on tuition fees of English medium schools illegal and directed the authorities concerned to stop collecting the VAT from January this year.
The court came up with the judgment on the ground that VAT on English medium education is discriminatory since no VAT was imposed on fees of other institutions, and that such discrimination is a violation of Article-17 of the constitution.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam appeared for the NBR while Advocate AM Aminuddin argued for the writ petitioners yesterday.
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