'Unfortunate' : Kerala High Court Pulls Up CBSE For Expressing Inability To Check Overcharging Of School Fees

After the Board expressed its inability to verify the income and expenditure statements of the schools as per a previous direction of the High Court, a Single Bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran asked the State Government to look into the matter.

It has directed the Government to propose a mechanism to ensure that the fees collected by schools in Kerala is proportional to their expenditure.

The Government Pleader has been asked to obtain instructions from the competent Authority as to:

• how it shall ensure that Schools do not charge fees, more than the actual expenditure this academic year;
• whether a specified Authority in the State Education Department can look into the complaints of over charging of fees in appropriate cases
• if the income and expenditure statements filed in these cases can be verifñed and scrutinized for further action.

On November 20, the Kerala High Court had directed the Board to issue circulars/ notifications intimating all affiliated Schools that they shall not charge fees, more than the actual expenditure this academic year. The direction came in a batch of petitions seeking relaxation of school fees.

The Board was also directed to go through the statements of income and expenditure filed by the respective Schools in these cases to find out whether their fee structure included surplus or profits for the academic year.

On Wednesday, the Board submitted that "they are not in a position to verify the income and expenditure" of the schools.

It asserted that the Affiliation Bye-laws provide for the Government to make provisions with respect to the fee structure and such other matters, relating to the affiliated Schools. However, it submitted that they are willing to issue the circular as directed by this Court, but need some more time.

The Court was seriously disappointed by the 'unfortunate stand' taken by the Board, that too without giving any reason as to why it is unable to do the necessary verification.

"They are willing to issue the circular as directed by this Court, but it is rather distressing that they have chosen not to do so until now and to seek further time," the Bench remarked.

It said that CBSE appears to be washing their hands off completely from the issue at hand by placing it squarely on the shoulders of the Government of Kerala.

It observed that since the CBSE has taken such a stand, the Court is left with no other option but to ask the Government to propose an appropriate mechanism. It sternly remarked,

"I do not require the CBSE to now issue any further circular since even if they do so, they themselves admit that they are powerless to enforce the same. I do not, therefore, want the CBSE to do something which is nothing but an empty formality, wasting precious resources and nothing more.

Consequently, I direct the learned Senior Government Pleader to obtain instructions from the competent Authority…"

The matter is now listed for hearing on December 17, 2020.

Before parting, the Court reiterated that such Petitioners who have not paid even the first term fees shall be precluded from receiving benefits under its previous order. It therefore directed all the Petitioners to make sure that they have paid the fees for first term, until the next posting date.

"As a last indulgence, I deem it appropriate to extent the time for payment of the first term fees until the next posting date, making it clear that if the petitioners or any of them choose not to do so, all interim orders in their favour issued by this Court earlier will stand automatically withdrawn," the Bench said.

 

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