The High Court has issued a rule asking the government to explain in two weeks why imposing of VAT on the private universities should not be declared illegal.
The bench of Justice Sheikh Hasan Ali and Justice JN Dev Chowdhury issued the ruling on Sunday afternoon in response to a writ petition filed by Barrister Hasan M Azim.
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In June 2010, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) proposed to impose 4.5% value added tax (VAT) on the private university tuition fees.
However, in the face of street protests from students directly affected by that, the revenue authority decided to stall the decision at that time.
Also Read: Private university students meet president for VAT withdrawal
Five years later, on June 4 this year, the government again proposed to impose VAT on the education at private universities and medical and engineering colleges for the fiscal year 2015-16. Only the rate this time was increased to 10%.
The students have been protesting against the decision since then. On August 6, the students from private universities met President Abdul Hamid and submitted a memorandum seeking withdrawal of the 7.5% VAT on private tertiary education.
