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SC orders FIA to freeze LGS, Beaconhouse accounts
December 13, 2018
ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (INP): The Supreme Court on Thursday during a hearing on excessive fees charged by upscale private schools ordered the Federal Investigation Agency to freeze the accounts of Lahore Grammar School (LGS) and the Beaconhouse School System (BSS).
The court had, in October, ordered the schools to furnish their respective audit reports, and formed a committee to be headed by federal ombudsman to find an amicable solution to the issue of exorbitant fees being collected from parents.
The audit reports, which were submitted in court today, said that the directors and top officials of the schools had received Rs62 million in salaries in 2017. A total of Rs512m was spent on employees' salaries in one year, while Rs5.2 billion was spent in five years, the report said, adding that various facilities were also provided.
The chief justice, commenting on the large amounts, wondered, "Have these schools bought uranium mines or gold mines?"
"Each director gets a salary of Rs8.3m," Justice Nisar said. He observed that the LGS audit report appeared to be incorrect, and expressed his displeasure with the auditor, saying they should be caught and handed over to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
"Children are not getting relief of even Rs2," the judge said. "The FBR should investigate."
The court ordered the FIA to freeze the accounts of LGS and BS, and summoned the chairmen of FBR and FIA immediately.
"They've opened schools in rented bungalows and earn huge amounts off each room," the chief justice observed.
The court was told by Ayesha Hamid, a lawyer for the schools, that all were ready to reduce their fees by 8 per cent, to which the top judge responded that the decrease was much too small.
Justice Ijazul Ahsan noted that the schools had provided incorrect figures in their audit reports. "Look at how directors are receiving Rs8.3m in salaries," he said.
BSS counsel Shahid Hamid argued that Beaconhouse had paid Rs 764m in taxes.
"You may have paid a lot of taxes, but the students are not getting any benefit from them," Justice Ahsan responded. "They will only be benefited when the fees are lowered."
"If childrens' education is being affected, then the court will play the role of a parent," Justice Nisar asserted.
INP/AJ
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