NEW DELHI: Delhi High Court on Monday said it will hear on April 18 the pleas filed by several private schools challenging the Delhi government’s latest fee regulation law when it will “conclude the matter in one go”.

A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia directed listing the petitions for hearing on a Saturday, saying it will decide the petitions “at the earliest”.

The bench adjourned the matter, noting that it has deferred the implementation of the mandate to private schools to constitute a ‘school-level fee regulation panel’ for the upcoming academic session. “List the case for hearing on April 18,” the bench said. The judge passed the order after counsel for Delhi government said that there was urgency in the matter because certain schools were removing students due to non-payment of fees.

Meanwhile, AAP accused private schools in Delhi of “blackmailing” parents over fee hikes and alleged that the BJP-led government has failed to act against such practices.

Delhi AAP president Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed that several private schools have begun pressuring parents who have not paid the “arbitrarily increased” fees. He also alleged that schools are withholding students’ results and threatening to strike off their names from rolls.

This story has been written by Udayan Kishor of The New Indian Express.