HC: Treat as representation PIL asking waiver of board exam fees for standards 10 and 12

new delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Delhi government and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to treat as a representation, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a waiver of the exam fees for students of classes 10 and 12 in the current academic year in view of the ongoing

pandemic.

During the hearing, the Delhi government told the court that it cannot afford to foot the bill of the students' exam fees this year as it did last year, as the amount is over Rs 100 crore and that it had already written to the CBSE asking it to waive the board exam fees for students in these classes for the current academic session.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan asked the authorities concerned to treat the petition by an NGO as a representation and take a decision in accordance with law, rules, regulations and government policy applicable to the facts of the case as early as possible and preferably within three weeks of receiving the

court's order.

With the direction, the bench disposed of the PIL moved by NGO Social Jurist, through advocate Ashok Agarwal, also seeking a direction to the Delhi government to pay the CBSE exam fees of students in its schools.

Agarwal, during the hearing via video conference, told the bench that incomes of many parents, especially those whose kids study in government schools, have suffered or have been lost owing to the pandemic and therefore, they are finding it tough to pay the exam fees which range between Rs 1,200 to Rs 2,500 per student.