Delhi HC orders roll back of fee hike by school

Updated on: Wednesday, July 20, 2011

The Delhi High Court ordered the roll back of the Rs 400 tutition fee hike effected by Ramjas School, Anand Parvat, in March this year.

"The Directorate of Education(DOE), Government of Delhi, is directed to pass the order against the school to roll back the hiked fee in four weeks and inform the court by next date of hearing," said Justice Kailash Gambhir and fixed September
9 as the date for further hearing.

The court's order came after DOE's counsel told the court that the committee, set up by the department, has found in an inquiry that the school has violated the government's April 2010 notification.

According to the notification, it was stated that the annual fee hike is not mandatory on the part of the school and schools must explore the possibilities of utilising the existing fund before hiking the tuition fee.

"The report of the committee has been accepted by the DOE and soon the Education Department will pass an order for roll back of the hiked fee," submitted the lawyer for DOE.

The court was hearing a petition filed by a group of parents through counsel Ashok Aggarwal alleging Ramjas School in Anand Parbat has arbitrarily hiked the tuition fee for the year 2011-2012 academic session, which is violative of the High Court's earlier order as well as the government's notification.

Citing the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, the petitioner association said that despite having huge surplus money, the schoool has taken a decision to increase the fee by Rs 400 per month and corresponding increase in the development fee.

"If the school is allowed to implement its decision, it would cause great injustice to the hapless students", the parents added.

According to the petitioner, a PIL challenging the city government's decision allowing the private schools to increase the tuition fee is pending before a pision bench of the high court and a decision is awaited and the school should have waited till the court's judgement.

Delhi HC orders roll back of fee hike by school

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