Fee row: DPS Dwarka moves Delhi HC challenging DoE’s order to reinstate students

Although the matter was listed before a bench of justice Vikas Mahajan on Monday, it was adjourned for Wednesday

Delhi Public School (DPS), Dwarka, has approached the Delhi high court challenging the Directorate of Education’s (DOE) order directing it to reinstate more than 30 students who were expelled for non-payment of hiked fees.

A bench of justice Vikas Mahajan has already reserved orders in a plea filed by 102 parents of students studying in DPS, Dwarka, seeking directions to the DoE and lieutenant governor VK Saxena to take over the school’s administration. (Representative photo)

Although the matter was listed before a bench of justice Vikas Mahajan on Monday, it was adjourned for Wednesday.

On May 9, the school struck off the names of 32 students from rolls and restrained them from entering the premises by deploying bouncers at the gates on May 13. Parents staged a protest, refusing to pay the hiked fees, citing a lack of approval from the Directorate of Education (DoE) and subsequently, on May 15, the DoE directed the school to reinstate the students, terming their dismissal a violation of court orders.

On Monday, DoE’s standing counsel Sameer Vashisth submitted that multiple writs were asking for similar relief and two benches of the high court had reserved verdicts on the petitions.

To be sure, a bench of justice Vikas Mahajan has already reserved orders in a plea filed by 102 parents of students studying in DPS, Dwarka, seeking directions to the DoE and lieutenant governor VK Saxena to take over the school’s administration. Concurrently, another order is reserved by a bench of justice Sachin Datta in a parents’ petition seeking the reinstatement of more than 30 expelled students.

In its plea, the school contended that the order was against the provisions of the Delhi School Education Act and Rules, 1973, which empowers the head of the school to strike off the names on account of non-payment of fees. “The impugned order is ex facie arbitrary. It fails to disclose any lawful cogent reasons for the petitioner school to reinstate the names of the fee defaulter children,” the plea said.

The school’s plea further painted a picture that the same was passed in violation of the principles of natural justice, without giving it an opportunity of being heard. “It is a highly unreasonable non speaking order and has been passed without providing any opportunity of being heard to the school, solely based on the alleged unilateral findings of the inspection committee,” the plea added.