Schools can’t strike off students’ names over non-payment of tuition fee, Chandigarh admn tells HC

The bench disposed of the plea observing that adequate arrangements for accommodating students and parents unable to deposit fees have already been made

The UT administration on Tuesday told the Punjab and Haryana high court that non-payment of tuition fee by any parent in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak will not result in denial of education or any other adverse consequence for the student.

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Senior standing counsel Pankaj Jain told the high court bench of chief justice RS Jha and justice Arun Palli that instructions in this regard had been issued to all schools on May 18.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a Chandigarh advocate, Pankaj Chandgothia, who had challenged the May 18 directions of the UT administration to schools allowing them to charge tuition fee for the months of April and May by May 31 and thereafter monthly.

Chandgothia told the court that in March schools were told to give one month’s time to parents/students to deposit the fees after schools reopened, but now two months’ fee was being charged in one go. This put parents in unnecessary hardship, he had told the court.

The bench observed that the UT administration had already passed orders giving specific directions to private schools not to take any coercive steps against students in case of non-payment of fee.

The bench disposed of the plea observing that adequate arrangement for accommodating students and parents unable to deposit fees has already been made. Therefore, no further direction was required to be issued in the matter, the bench added.

The court, however, gave liberty to individual parents and students to approach the schools, the grievance redressal authority, or even the UT administration in case of any hardship.