A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking maximum relief in the School fee for the period of COVID 19 induced national lockdown.
The petition has been filed by Advocate Reepak Kansal seeking an intervention of the Supreme Court with respect to interpretation and application of Force Majeure clauses in the current circumstances.
The petitioner has submitted that “the private school administrations have been demanding school fee and other charges without rendering any services.” However the authorities have not been taking any action against the “illegal demands” of the school administrations under their respective jurisdiction despite protests by the parents and students in various parts of the country.
The petitioner has referred to the case of Re: Energy watchdog Vs. CERC &Ors., where the Supreme Court had held that “in case the contract itself contain an express and implied terms relating to Force Majeure condition, the same shall be governed by Section 32 of the Indian Contract Act. Further the Court also held that“if there is an existing force majeure clause then that covers the scope of a party’s entitlement to claim force majeure and no reliance can be placed on frustration generally as is defined in section 56 of the Indian Contract Act.”
The petitioner has further submitted that “there is no Force Majeure clause in the said admission form, therefore, demanding fee and expenses without rending service is illegal and against the principle of natural justice.”
Pointing out at the demerits of online classes, the petitioner has stated that “that there is no clause in the admission form that in case of epidemic / adverse situation / nation lock down etc., the school administration would provide online classes and charge same set of fee & expenses for the same.” The petitioner has further submitted that students face a lot of problem understanding the lectures through the medium of online classes.
-India Legal Bureau