Calcutta High Court Orders Payment Of 50% Outstanding School Fees, Court Will Consider To Permit Action In Case Of Default

The Calcutta High Court on Friday directed parents to pay at least 50 percent of the outstanding school fees failing which the Court will mull over allowing educational institutions to take stringent action including expelling students. The Court clarified that the outstanding payment must be made irrespective of whether any dispute exists regarding the claimed amount. The matter is slated to be heard next on September 2.

A Bench comprising Justice IP Mukherji and Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya expressed displeasure at parents taking undue advantage of the ongoing pandemic and thus observed,

"We are sad and annoyed to know that although the economic situation is much better now than in 2020 and that most persons have learnt how to adjust their lives to the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic, quite a significant number of parents and guardians of the students of various schools and other teaching institutions have taken advantage of this order by not paying the school fees at all"

The Court was adjudicating upon a bunch of PILs filed by aggrieved parents seeking a partial remission of school fees for the session 2021-2022 due to the ongoing pandemic owing to which students are attending schools only through virtual mediums. In its earlier order dated October 13, 2020 the Bench had passed an interim order directing school authorities to not expel any student and avail them to access online classes on the fulfillment of certain conditions.

On Friday, the Court observed that in spite of remitting a significant portion of the school fees vide its earlier order, parents had failed to make a payment towards the remaining dues. It further noted that currently the total amount of outstanding school fees run into several crores of rupees. It further observed that a substantial number of parents and guardians irrespective of being financially stable have chosen to deliberately not pay the outstanding dues.

It was also pointed out to the Court that various teaching institutions are finding it very difficult to sustain themselves because of the constant incur of expenses pertaining to payment of salaries, maintenance of infrastructure and other allied expenditures.

Advocating for the maintenance of a balance between competing interests, the Court opined,

"At this point of time, there is a need to balance the need of the teaching institutions against the need of the students. The innocent students, we feel, should not be made to suffer for their errant parents and guardians. At the same time, the economic loss of the teaching institutions should also not be ignored"

Directions Issued

The Court specified that in case the outstanding fees are not paid before the next date of hearing, the Court shall be compelled to take the following action,

• Permit the schools and teaching institutions to suspend the instruction to the students in all forms, online and physical.

• Remove the name of the students from the roll of the school without further notice.

• For those students who have taken the school final or higher secondary examination and qualified, a direction is to be made to the respective Boards to suspend their qualification and certificates till the school fees are paid.

Case Title: Rajib Chakraborty & Ors. v. State of West Bengal & Ors.

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