The Delhi High Court dismissed the public interest litigation (PIL) that sought directions to the Delhi government to waive off school tuition fee amid the ongoing coronavirus-induced lockdown.

During the hearing on Tuesday, a bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan also expressed displeasure with the petitioner and counsel and asked did they not apprise the court that a similar matter had already been dismissed by the same court.

The bench said, “This is clear misconduct.” Advocate N Pradeep Sharma sought an apology from the High Court and withdrew the PIL after the court was not convinced by his arguments.

The plea, filed by one Naresh Kumar, sought directions from the high court to the Directorate of Education, Government of NCT Delhi to take steps to waive off the school tuition fee. According to the petition, the private school managements have been demanding school fee and other charges without providing any services. It further said that the school admission form does not have any clause stating that in case of an adverse situation, the school would charge tuition fees for providing online classes.

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The plea read, “Such online classes offered by schools can have several medical and psychological impact on students, which is against the concept of school education. The schools are duty-bound to follow and abide by the terms and conditions which are a part of school prospectus and if there is no Force Majeure clause in the school prospectus, demanding of tuition fee, without providing the actual education, is a violation of law in terms of a contract and also against the principle of natural justice.”

It also said that the entire student community is facing several challenges due to the online education system. “Some homework and class tests require guidance of trained teachers and hence, it is difficult to achieve through the online way of teaching. It would be important to mention that private schools are either being run by the Society or trust and are not doing any social service to society. Even otherwise, the school is a service provider and thus is covered under the Consumer Act also,” the plea said.

Source: Zeenews

Read: Schools can charge tuition fee during lockdown: Delhi High Court