Chhattisgarh High Court Issues Notice On Amity University Students' Plea For Fee Reduction

The Chhattisgarh High Court has issued notice on a writ petition filed by 77 students of Amity University Chhattisgarh seeking reduction of semester fee on account of COVID-19 pandemic difficulties.

A single bench of Justice Goutam Bhaduri issued notice on the petition Sejal Mekkad and others vs Amity University and others(WP(c) No. 2227/2021). The case will be next considered on June 07.

The petitioners are students pursuing various courses like Law, Journalism, Fashion Designing, Engineering, MBA, Architecture in the Amit University. They are aggrieved with the fact that the University has not responded to their representation seeking semester fee reduction.

It is stated that the semester fee for various courses range from Rs 25,000 to Rs 1,16,000. Considering the COVID-19 pandemic, the students made a representation seeking fee reduction and instalment facility. However, it is contended by them that the University has not responded to their pleas.

It is highlighted in the petition that the University has been conducting classes online since March 2020. Therefore, the University is not incurring operational expenses and institutional costs. Hence, the students argue that they are entitled to fee reduction.

In this regard, the petitioners refer to the recent Supreme Court judgment in the case Indian School, Jodhpur vs State of Rajasthan, which held that private schools should grant at least 15% fee reduction as they have saved operational costs by not holding physical classes.