Lawyers pitch in to help two girls pay their tuition fee

Not only did the lawyers help the two girls pay the admission fee for the current session, but the Delhi high court bar association president Mohit Mathur also assured justice Najmi Waziri that the bar will take care of the further expenses.

Several lawyers, who were awaiting their turn for video conferencing hearings at the Delhi high court, on Friday pitched in to help two underprivileged girls, who would have otherwise had to forgo their studies for lack of funds.

While hearing a contempt plea filed by the mother against the father for not paying maintenance, the court was informed that the younger daughter is pursuing her bachelors in law from a college in Ghaziabad and is currently in the third year. She missed out on the midterms of the fifth semester due to non-payment of tuition fee, the court was told (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Not only did the lawyers help the two girls pay the admission fee for the current session, but the Delhi high court bar association president Mohit Mathur also assured justice Najmi Waziri that the bar will take care of the further expenses of the two girls whose parents were divorced and their father did not have the means to pay their fee.

While hearing a contempt plea filed by the mother against the father for not paying maintenance, the court was informed that the younger daughter is pursuing her bachelors in law from a college in Ghaziabad and is currently in the third year. She missed out on the midterms of the fifth semester due to non-payment of tuition fee, the court was told.

The court was also told that if the outstanding amount is not paid by January 10; the law student would lose an academic year. The mother also told the judge that the older daughter, who is pursuing B-2 Level Certificate German Language Course (External) from Goethe Institute, Max Mueller Bhawan, on KG Marg in New Delhi, has been made an external student due to non-payment of ₹12,400 towards tuition fee.

The father was engaged in photocopying and bookbinding business at the Tis Hazari court and said he does not have the wherewithal to meet the expenses. On an earlier date, he had informed the court that the shop has been taken away by the Delhi Bar Association (DBA). Following this, the court posted the matter to February 1 for further hearing.

However, the mother approached the court with an urgent application saying she was facing financial difficulties due to which the girls would have to leave their studies.

As the court was mulling a solution, lawyers logged in to the virtual hearing and offered to contribute the fee. Immediately, 10 lawyers contributed towards the educational expenses and gathered over ₹1 lakh to support the girls.

Seeing the overwhelming response, the court asked the advocates to jointly contribute towards the children’s education and deposit money in the petitioner mother’s bank account.

Later, speaking to HT, the mother said she wants her daughter to become a judge so that she can help similarly placed women in distress.

“I wanted to make my daughters independent, especially after what I have suffered at the hands of my in-laws and husband whose behaviour deteriorated after I gave birth to my second daughter. I want my younger daughter, pursuing law, to become a judge and ensure that none has to face the situation that we have faced,” the woman said.

The woman, who was married in 1998, left home in 2011 and instituted proceedings to dissolve the marriage while also filing a domestic violence case against her husband and in-laws.

She alleged that in the last 11 years, she has been bearing the educational expenses of her children by taking money from her retired father, doing petty jobs and borrowing heavily from others. She also claimed that the husband, being rich, has the clout and has given false submission to the court.

“I think that the law should be amended to such an extent that all maintenance orders passed by the family courts are strictly adhered to and no one should face the hardships due to a broken marriage, just like I did,” she said.