The Rajasthan High court hearing a writ petition directed the schools to follow the state government notification and charge 60% tuition fees in schools affiliated with the state board and 70% tuition fees in private schools affiliated to CBSE for the current academic year after taking into consideration the plight of the parents in these ‘unprecedented’ times of the pandemic.
Facts
In the wake of the covid-19 pandemic upon implementation of the nation-wide lockdown, the Rajasthan state government directed the schools for deferment of school fees for three months. On 07/07/2020 the deferment was extended through the government order till the schools reopen. The order was challenged in the court after which the government formed a committee and a new order was issued on 28/10/2020 regarding fees that could be charged by the schools. The order directed the schools affiliated with the state education board to charge 60% of tuition fees and private schools affiliated to CBSE to charge 70% of the tuition fees, the order further directed that no student was to be expelled due to non-payment of fees however, they can be denied to attend online classes and also stated that no school may charge any fee for extra co-curricular facilities that are not provided by them such as laboratory or library fees.
School’s Contentions
The counsel appearing for the schools argued that the state government had no authority to issue directions to the private schools regarding the collection of fees. The counsel added that there were no statutory provisions in the Disaster management act, 2005 under which the state government can issue such directions and pleaded that the court shall quash the government order. The counsel further submitted that the government order was against the legal rights of the private schools and schools were facing ‘great financial hardship’ since they have to pay salaries to the staff, pay loan EMIs of the infrastructure of school and incur other expenses of online classes and their only source of income was students’ fees was compromised by the government order. The counsel finally submitted that the schools were running on no profit no loss basis and the private schools were aware of their duties but such drastic government order regarding reduction in fees was against the fundamental rights and liable to be set aside.
State Government’s response
The learned AAG appearing for the government submitted that the state government has been trying to strike a balance between the school’s hardships and the plight of the parents. The learned counsel also submitted that the disaster management act, 2005 have overriding effect over all other statutes and the Rajasthan epidemic disease act, 2020 empowered the state government to take decisions regarding the functioning of educational institutions including decisions regarding the fees during the pandemic. He further added that if the government order is not accepted by the schools’ managements and parents they may determine fees as per the provisions of Rajasthan Schools (Regulation of Fee) Act, 2016 and Rajasthan Schools (Regulation of Fee) Rules, 2017.
Court’s Decision
The division bench of Justice Satish Kumar Sharma and Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty firstly noted that the ‘unprecedented’ and ‘unforeseen’ situations that arose due to the Covid-19 pandemic had affected everyone and the nationwide lockdown has caused financial hardships for everyone due to which the government has issued orders catering the plight of parents who find it difficult to pay the fees.
The court observed that the central and state governments are well empowered to take decisions to minimize the damage of pandemic under the Disaster management act, 2005 and since many other state governments have issued similar notices regarding the reduction of school fees, the Rajasthan state government also had the authority to do the same.
The court further remarked “It is true that in a normal situation the private schools are entitled to collection of school fees as per the provisions of the act of 2016 but as discussed above provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 have an overriding effect on all other statues and the impugned orders have been found to be issued under the act of 2005 for mitigating the plight of the citizens in unprecedented crises of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Therefore, the impugned orders can’t be termed as invalid or inexecutable.” The court further added that the schools are not incurring the same expenses in online classes compared to physical classes since the teachers are also working for a lesser period and there are no expenses such as electricity and upkeep of buildings etc.
The court upheld the state government’s order and said “all the impugned orders and the alternative mechanism suggested by the State Government during the course of hearing have not been found to be without competence and authority. In the wake of the unprecedented situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the State Government has taken necessary steps in the due exercise of its powers in order to mitigate the plights of the citizens. No bias or any sort of partiality or unfairness can be imputed on the part of the State Government as it has tried to strike the balance between the schools' management and the parents, thus, no case is made out for interference by this Court into the above policy decisions of the State Government.”
The court disposed of the petitions after directing the schools to collect a fee as per the state government’s order and further adding directions for a fair determination of fees if parents and school take recourse and determine the fees as per the Rajasthan Schools (Regulation of Fee) Act 2016, and Rajasthan Schools (Regulation of Fee) Rules 2017.
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