Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Friday came to the rescue of around 50,000 students after the Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) had refused to accept their examination fee on the ground that their colleges did not have the mandatory no objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department.
The last date for payment with a late fee of Rs 2,500 is January 25. Incidentally, the board slapped penalties on all colleges that did not have an affiliation.
Justice Tadakamalla Vinod Kumar directed the board to accept the fee without insisting on a late fee, subject to the condition that the colleges pay the penalties on Saturday. Insofar as payment of a late fee of Rs 2,500 was concerned, the court directed each college to furnish a nationalised bank guarantee of the overall amount on or before January 28.
Surya Satish and Ponnam Mahesh Goud, counsels for the colleges, submitted that the state government through GO No. 4, dated 15.01.2025, had granted a one-year abeyance of the NOC from the fire department to 217 private colleges located in Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Medchal districts. Despite this, the BIE had imposed exorbitant penalties on these colleges, they said.
