Delhi govt, students move HC against order allowing pvt schools to charge annual fees

New Delhi: Several appeals, including one by the AAP government, have been moved in the Delhi High Court against its single-judge order allowing private unaided recognised schools to collect annual and development charges from students for the period after the lockdown ended in the national capital last year.

The petitions were initially listed before a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh on Friday.

However, since the bench did not sit, the matter was transferred to another bench comprising Justices Manmohan and Navin Chawla to be heard in the second half of the day.

Senior advocate Vikas Singh and Delhi government standing counsel Santosh K Tripathi, appearing for the AAP government, and the lawyers representing the students told the bench that an interim order be passed to maintain the status quo as the private schools have started harassing the parents.

The bench declined to pass any such order, saying it has not gone through the petitions and listed the matter for hearing on June 7.

The Delhi government and the students have contended that the single judge's May 31 decision was based on incorrect facts and law.

The single judge verdict had quashed two office orders of April and August 2020 issued by the Directorate of Education of the Delhi government forbidding and postponing collection of annual charges and development fees, saying they were "illegal" and "ultra vires" the powers of DoE stipulated under the Delhi School Education (DSE) Act and the Rules.

It said the Delhi government has no power to indefinitely postpone collection of annual charges and development fees by private unaided schools as it would unreasonably restrict their functioning.

The Delhi government has contended that its orders of April and August last year were issued in larger public interest as due to the COVID-19 lockdown people were in financial crisis.