New Delhi: The Rajasthan High Court has directed private school authorities to allow students to continue their studies online, depositing 70 percent of their tuition fees.
Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma passed the order while hearing petitions from private schools in Rajasthan against a state government order barring schools from collecting fees for three months in view of Covid-19.
The state government on July 7 ordered that collection of all outstanding dues, current applicable fees, and advance fees shall be deferred for a period of three months in respect to all students studying in non-governmental institutions. During this period, the names of students shall not be struck off from non-governmental institutions for non-payment of such fees. Challenging the orders of the state government, petitions were filed by different education societies which were later merged.
Advocates Dinesh Yadav, Kamlakar Sharma, Sacrota Sharma and Shalesh Prakash Sharma , lawyers representing different private schools submitted before the court that schools were incurring huge losses due to non-collection of fee during the pandemic.
The petitioners also argued that the state did not have the power to restrain private schools from collecting fees.
Noting that parents could not be burdened with heavy fee requirements and that schools could not be expected to unilaterally shoulder the costs of maintaining its infrastructure, the court found that these interests had not been considered by the state when it issued its notification.
The Court said: “The said 70 percent of the tuition fees shall be paid for the period from March 2020 in three instalments to the respective schools. However, it is being made clear that on non-payment of the said fees the student(s) may not be allowed to join online classes, but shall not be expelled from the school. The three instalments shall be fixed by depositing the first instalment on or before September 30, while the second instalment shall be paid by November 30 and the third by January 31, 2021.”
The court further observed that under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the government has jurisdiction to lay down policy and “the petitioners are all non-governmental organisations and are expected therefore to play their necessary role in mitigating the sufferance caused to the public at large while at the same time also protect their own staff from facing financial difficulties.”
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The court made it clear that the question regarding remaining fees shall be examined at the stage of final disposal of these writ petitions. The orders are being passed as interim arrangements subject to final adjudication of the case.
Read the order here;
School-Fees-1-India Legal Bureau