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HC directs Delhi govt to decide on Sanskriti School fee hike
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi government to decide on the permission to be granted to Sanskriti School to hike their fees after the court
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi government to decide on the permission to be granted to Sanskriti School to hike their fees after the court appointed a chartered accountant (CA) to audit the accounts of the school, with a focus on financial years 2018-2019 and 2019-2020.
This comes as a huge relief for the school, which has already given several representations to the Directorate of Education (DoE) seeking permission to hike fee.
Justice Suresh Kait noted that the ratio of teachers to students is “very high”, as per the affiliation bye-laws of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
The court was hearing a plea by teachers of Sanskriti School, who had moved the court claiming that the school was not paying them in accordance to the 7th Pay Commission (CPC). Last year, teachers had moved court demanding hiked salaries.
On January 10, the court-appointed CA told the court that there is a financial deficit of ₹8,12, 86, 962 for the financial year 2018-2019 and ₹7, 21, 31, 884 for 2019-2020, despite the rationalisation of the fee considered and applied by the school. The report also said that the school cannot pay teachers salaries and allowances as per the 7th Pay Commission in the present circumstances.
“It is not in dispute that in the financial year 2017-18 and 2018-19, no hike of the fee was allowed by the Delhi government and the Directorate of Education despite the fact that the school made representations for hiking the fee on August 25, 2018.
“However, the said application was decided by the DoE on September 20, 2019 after more than a year, permitted to hike 20% of the fee with effect from April 1, 2019. This type of governance cannot be accepted. It leads to our system nowhere,” the judge said in his order dated January 10.
Both the DoE and Sanskriti School principal, Richa Sharma Agnihotri, refused to comment on the developments, stating that the matter is subjudice.
The court, however, noted that since the teacher-student ratio is not according to the prescribed norms of the CBSE. It directed the school authorities to give details of the contract, ad-hoc and regular teachers employed in the school.
The judge also directed the Director of Education of the Delhi government to be present in the court on the next, hearing posting it for February 17. It also directed the authorised and responsible representatives of the society and school to also remain present for that hearing.
