NCDRC Directs Doon International School To Pay Rs. 50,000/- To A Former Student For Non-Issuance Of Transfer Certificate On Time [Read Order]

"School authorities cannot act in an arbitrary or casual manner in issuing a normal and factually correct school leaving Transfer Certificate. Such Certificate concerns the career of a student, and should be issued on request with the due responsibility, and at the earliest," the bench of Dr. S. M. Kantikar and Dinesh Singh said.

The School had filed a revision petition against the order of the State Commission which had allowed the appeal filed by the aggrieved student, Ravleen Kaur, granting her compensation worth Rs. 50,000/-, thereby overturning the dismissal order passed by the district forum in 2008.

Ravleen was a student of class IX and had approached the school in 2005 for a transfer certificate which was not granted to her on time, leading to loss of an academic year.

The NCDRC concurred with the findings of the State Commission that the school was not only "deficient" in its service by not issuing the Transfer Certificate on time, but it's actions of withholding the certificate also constituted "unfair trade practice".

It also agreed that the Respondent student must have come to the Court only after she had approached the authorities for School Leaving Transfer Certificate and it was not issued to her. In this view, the Commission reiterated the State Commission's findings that,

"Why even after filing of the complaint, School Leaving Certificate was not issued, only answer given by the learned Counsel for the respondents was, that unless the School Leaving Certificate is not asked for in writing, his clients are not liable to issue the same. This plea is being noted to be rejected".

The NCDRC also noted in this behalf that,

"Even when the consumer complaint was filed, the petitioner school could have acted with the due requisite responsibility and most immediately issued the Transfer Certificate requested for".

It opined that the Respondent's academic performance had no nexus with the issue of a transfer certificate and said,

"The contention of the petitioner school, that she was academically a "poor" student, has no concern or relationship with issuing a normal and factually correct school leaving Transfer Certificate on request. It is nobody's case that she had to be (erroneously) shown as a "good" student in the Transfer Certificate".

Noting that the school had "unnecessarily and unwarrantedly acted in an intransigent manner", the Commission upheld the decision of the State Commission granting compensation worth Rs 50,000/- to the Respondent along with litigation costs.

The Petitioner School was represented by Advocate Nitish Ojha.

Click here to download the Order