Satya Sai Vidhya Vihar Gail ... vs The State Of Madhya Pradesh
2023 Latest Caselaw 3766 MP

                              1




 IN    THE     HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH
                     AT GWALIOR
                         BEFORE
       HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE MILIND RAMESH PHADKE
                   ON THE 3 rd OF MARCH, 2023
                 WRIT PETITION No. 16229 of 2021

BETWEEN:-
SATYA SAI VIDHYA VIHAR GAIL VIJAYPUR THR.
PRINCIPAL MANOJ KOTHEKAR S/O KAMLAKAR
KOTHEKAR, AGED ABOUT 53 YEARS, OCCUPATION:
SERVICE SATYA SAI VIDHYA VIHAR GAIL VIJAYPUR
(MADHYA PRADESH)

                                                      .....PETITIONER
(BY SHRI N.K. GUPTA SR. ADVOCATE WITH SHRI S.D. SINGH-
ADVOCATE )

AND
1.    THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH PRINCIPAL
      SECRETARY SCHOOL EDUCTION DEPARTMENT,
      VALLABH BHAWAN BHOPAL (MADHYA PRADESH)

2.    DISTRICT   EDUCATION   OFFICER SCHOOL
      EDUCATION     DEPARTMENT DISTT.  GUNA
      (MADHYA PRADESH)

3.    COLLECTOR    /    DISTRICT   MAGISTRATE
      COLLECTOR DISTT. GUNA (MADHYA PRADESH)

4.    BHARAT PATWA S/O SHRI GOVINDCHARAN
      PATWA MIG 13 SADA COLONY RAGHOGARH
      DISTT. GUNA (MADHYA PRADESH)

                                                    .....RESPONDENTS
( RESPONDENT/ STATE BY SHRI NEELESH TOMAR, RESPONDENT NO. 4
BY SHRI RISHIKESH BOHARE - ADVOCATE )

      Th is petition coming on for admisison this day, JUSTICE MILING
                                     2
RAMESH PHADKE passed the following:
                                     ORDER

By way of present petition the order dated 16.08.2021 passed by respondent no. 2, District Education Officer, District, Guna has been challenged whereby the petitioner/school has been directed not to obstruct Children of respondent no.4 who were studying in Class Vth and Xth of petitioner's school to attend classes in view of the hardships which has been caused to respondent no. 4 in making payment of tuition fees in the wake of Pandemic of Covid -19 for academic session of 2020/21. The aforesaid order is further challenged against the directions issued by respondent no. 2 with regard to collection of fees for the sessions 2021-22 in accordance with the directions issued by the

State Government and the Courts.

Learned Sr. Counsel Shri N.K. Gupta along with S.D. Singh submits that the order Annexure P/1 dated 16.08.2021 is per se illegal and has been passed without jurisdiction, as it is not supported by any of the Act or Rules framed by the State or Central Government and only on the basis of some circulars and directives issued by the Hon' ble Apex Court, the same has been passed, whereas the directions issued by the Apex Court as well as State Government are very clear in this regard. It has further been argued that Hon'ble Apex Court in the matter of Gandhi Seva Sadan Rajsmand v. State of Rajasthan passed in SLP (C) No. 27907-27916/2019 dated 08.02.2021, while hearing petitions of similar nature, passed the interim directions with regard to hardships caused to the parents of the students due to pandemic of Covid-19 directing the management of school to collect fees for the academic 2019-2020 as well as 2020-21 from the students equivalent to the fees notified for the year 2019-20 that too in six monthly installments commencing from 5th of March, 2021 till

5th of August, 2021, with a further stipulation that the management/school shall not debar any student from on-line classes as well as physical classes on account of non-payment of fees and arrears of the outstanding fees and shall not hold the result of examination of the student on that account.

Thus from bare perusal of the aforesaid directives of the Hon'ble Apex Court there are no directions with regard to non-payment of tuition fees, therefore, the impugned order suffers from blatant illegality. It has further been argued that even as per the directives issued by the State Government vide circular dated 01.03.2021 and 04.09.2022, there is no direction for the managment of the school to exempt the fees in the wake of Pandemic of Covid

-19. Thus, the order impugned herein dated 16.08.2021 is per se illegal and deserves to be set aside. It has further been argued by the learned Sr. Counsel that in one of the Civil Appeals no. 17136 of 2021 which forms part of the earlier SLPs, the Hon'ble Apex Court while finally deciding the issue had concluded that spirit of the directions given in judgment dated 03.05.2021 in Civil Appeal No. 1724 of 2021 was to give time to the concerned parents/ward to pay the fees as specified therein to be given in installment and does not extricate the parents/wards from liability of the payment of fees. Thus, from the above submission, according to Sr. Counsel the decision was very much clear that no exemption from payment of school fees was granted by the Hon'ble

Apex Court, therefore, order dated 16.08.2021 is patently illegal and does not deserve to stand.

On the other hand, learned Govt. Advocate Shri Tomar submits that upon receiving various complaints against the school management with regard to obstructing the students from attending classes not allowing them to study, obstructing them to appear in examinations the petitioner school was given

notice and reply was called from it and upon critical evaluation of the reply as well as document submitted, impugned order has been passed which needs no interference. It has further been argued that from the impugned order it is reflected that petitioner/school had not allowed the children of respondent no. 4 to participate in the classes and no education has been provided to them and since no satisfactory reply was submitted by the school management in this regard, therefore no illegality has been committed in passing the impugned order.

Learned Counsel appearing for respondent no. 4 had vehemently argued that there was clear obstruction on the part of the petitioner in imparting education properly to both his children so also the obstruction was created in the exam which was conducted of both the children on 2nd of March, 2021. It has further been argued that since no proper education was provided to the children, they could not secure proper marks in the examination and every time his children went to school they were threatened to be debarred on account of non-payment of school fees, thus, justified the impugned order.

Heard the Counsel for the parties and perused the record. From the judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court, it is very much clear that directions were issued with regard to collection of the tuition fees for the academic sessions 2019-20 as well as academic sessions 2020-21 from the students, who were facing hardship due to Pandemic of Covid-19 and directions were to collect the fees in installment, and there were no directions for exemption of payment of school fees. Even from the circular dated 01.03.2021 and 04.09.2022, it is clear that the circulars were only with regard to non obstruction of the students by the management of school in attending the

classes and appearing in examination and no directions were issued with regard to payment of school fees. It was only stipulated that in case the parents are facing some problems in payment of school fees, they may approach the school and represent in that regard and it would be the prerogative of the school/management to take appropriate decision in the matter. From the record it does appear that representations were made by respondent no. 4 but without waiting for any decision on the aforesaid representation he has approached respondent authorities and the respondent authorities without adhering to the guidelines of the Apex Court as well as circulars of the State Government has passed the impugned order which deserves to be set aside and is hereby set aside.

Since there are arrears of school fees (tuition fees) which respondent no. 4 is liable to pay, thus is hereby directed to pay which as per the instructions sought by learned Sr. Counsel had mounted for last three years, this Court deems it fit that facility of installment deserves to be given to respondent no. 4 for making the aforesaid payment. It is further directed that only the tuition fees which is payable for both the children shall be demanded and shall be paid by respondent no. 4 for the period in issue i.e. for academic sessions 2020-21 and 2021-22.

With aforesaid directions the petition stands allowed and disposed of in above terms.

(MILIND RAMESH PHADKE) JUDGE ar

ABDUR RAHMAN 2023.03.04 16:35:48 +05'30'