The Allahabad High Court while disposing the petition said that the Sibling Fee Relief issued by Institution is a benefit offered to the parents whose two children are studying in the institution subject to certain riders and cannot be claimed as a matter of right.
A Single Bench of Justice Ashutosh Srivastava passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Satendra Kumar and 2 Others.
A claim of Sibling Fee relief of 50% introduced by the respondent Nos 6 and 7 institution for the Session 2022-2023-2024 and its denial on account of a solitary default leading to unpleasantries being exchanged between the petitioner No 1/Satendra Kumar and the school authorities respondent Nos 6 & 7, lodging of complaints, police complaints, defamation suit and culminating in issuance of transfer certificates against the petitioner Nos 2 and 3 has travelled to the Court.
The petition has been filed for issuance of a writ of mandamus commanding the respondent Nos 6 & 7 to accept the fees of the petitioner No 2 and 3, enroll their names in the school rolls and permit them to take their respective classes without any hindrance in the interest of justice.
The facts of the case are that the petitioner No 1 is an ex serviceman having retired from the post of Sergeant in the Indian Air Force. The elder son of the petitioner No 1, namely, Sushmit Dagar was a student of the school run by the respondent Nos 6 and 7 and passed out in the academic session 2021-22 and is currently pursuing B.Tech course in IIT, Kanpur. The other children of the petitioner No 1 i.e the petitioner Nos 2 and 3 took admission in the institution of the respondent Nos 6 & 7 in classes 6th and 4th in the academic Session 2020-2021 and studying in classes 8th and 6th in the academic session 2022-2023.
On 5th of August, 2021 the school administration introduced a Scheme/Circular for fee rebate under the head of COVID relief and Sibling Relief for the academic session 2022-2023-2024. The Sibling Relief Scheme provided 50% fee relief to parents who have admitted their two children to the school and such fee relief would be given to the younger sibling who is the biological offspring of the same parents.
The relief process would be fully automated and once the application is received, processed and approved, a credit note would be automatically posted to the younger ward’s fee account.
The credit note would be posted only upon timely payment of fee every quarter i.e 5th April, 5th July, 5th October and 5th January.
The scheme further provided that the relief would not be available to parents who wish to pay school fee in monthly installments or fee payment is received beyond the due date. The relief would also be available to the parents who deposit the entire year fee in one go, on or before 5th April.
The scheme further provided that the full fee of the older sibling and balance fee for the younger sibling must be deposited on or before the due date to avail the relief and would be available to one child only at a time.
Apart from the above, the scheme provided that it would remain applicable for session 2023-2024 and that the school reserved its right to withdraw the relief post 2023-2024 or if a child is found guilty of disciplinary misdemeanor damages school property and is unable to pass exams or the parents is found misbehaving with school staff or his behaviour is questionable and any disrespect towards school or its staff by the parents or child would make the relief withdrawn.
The Court found that the Sibling Fee Relief under the Circular dated 5.8.2021 issued by the respondent No 7 is a benefit offered to the parents whose two children are studying in the institution subject to certain riders and cannot be claimed as a matter of right.
The Court opined that this unfortunate situation has arisen on account of misunderstanding of the terms of the Sibling Fee Relief Scheme. According to the petitioner No 1, he was entitled to the benefits under the Scheme as the institution had accepted the fee for 2nd quarter in part.
Admittedly, the first deposit towards the fee of the 2nd quarter was made on 5.7.2022 by depositing a sum of Rs 25,000/- and the second deposit towards the said quarter was made on 8.7.2022 for Rs 27,704/-. The total amount deposited was Rs 52,704/- which was the amount required to be deposited towards the fee for both petitioner Nos 2 & 3 after adjusting the Sibling Fee relief and 10% COVID relief.
However, the 2nd deposit was made on 8.7.2022 and not on or before 5.7.2022 as provided under the Scheme and as such, the respondent No 7 was justified in not extending the benefit of the Sibling Fee Relief to the parents. No benefit of the Scheme has been extended for the deposits made in respect of the subsequent quarters.
During the course of the arguments, considering the nature of the dispute, the Court had required the parties to amicably settle the dispute amongst themselves.
“The Transfer Certificates were issued to the petitioner Nos 2 and 3 on 23.3.2023. Though the names of the petitioner Nos 2 and 3 were struck off from the Rolls of the school, their ID cards were withdrawn. Yet, the petitioner No 2 and 3 continued to be sent to the school by the parents. The final report cards for their respective classes were handed over in March, 2023 and they were not promoted to the next higher class. The School Authorities did not prevent them from attending school presumably on the ground that the enquiry by the District Fee Regulatory Authority was underway at the relevant time. The School Authorities did not mark the attendance nor accepted any fee from the petitioners. I also find that the session 2023-2024 is virtually on the last leg with only 04 weeks remaining thereafter the final exams are scheduled to take place. In view of above facts, the Court is constrained to permit the petitioner Nos 2 and 3 to be re-admitted in the current session”, the Court observed while disposing the petition.
“The petitioner No 1 shall withdraw all proceedings initiated against the School Authorities which include the complaint filed by him under the U.P Self Financed Independent Schools (Fee Regulation) Act, 2018, Complaint before the Police Authorities as also Complaint on the IGRS portal against the institution and its teaching staff and submit an undertaking that such conduct shall not be repeated in future. The petitioner No 1 shall also deposit the defaulted fee (waived fee) as also the future fee as and when the same shall fall due. The respondent No 7 in turn will withdraw the defamation case and / or any other cases instituted against the parents of the petitioner Nos 2 and 3. The respondent No 7 shall withdraw the transfer certificates dated 23.3.2023 accept the fee in respect of the petitioner Nos 2 and 3, restore their names on the school rolls and readmit them for the academic session 2024-2025”, the Court ordered.