A Rajasthan High Court Bench comprising Justice Sangeet Lodha & Justice Rameshwar Vyas has termed the practice of medical institutions requiring the students to submit a bank guarantee against the annual fees for the next 3½ years in addition to the deposit of their annual fee for the first year, as illegal.
Background
Deepesh Singh Beniwal filed a petition against the rule of medical institutions asking bank guarantee for 3½ years of course duration in addition to submitting the fees for the first-year students and called it an unjustified and unwarranted burden on parents considering the huge amount.
Medical Institutions require the students to submit a bank guarantee for the duration of the Course program while submitting the fees for the first year. This is done to ensure that no student leaves the course in between. Banks are generally discouraged from giving bank guarantees, thus obtaining a bank guarantee is not easy, it requires collateral security or a fixed deposit.
Thus, citing these reasons in the petition, this rule of medical institutions was submitted to be unjust and unfair on the part of students, as not everyone is competent enough to procure such a huge amount.
Order of the Court
All government and private institutions are prohibited from reclaiming any cash as an advance fee, according to a bench of Justices Sangeet Lodha and Rameshwar Vyas. The Court observed that insisting upon the students who are otherwise eligible to be admitted to the course being meritorious but are not in a position to arrange the requisite funds to procure a bank guarantee towards the fees for the entire course duration would be absolutely unjustified.
Also, it was stated that requiring each and every student to provide a bank guarantee for the whole duration of the program, simply because some students may drop out in the middle, looks to be irrational and unjust, on account that bank guarantees are obtained only on providing collateral security or fixed deposit, which is not possible for every student.
Case Details
Case Title- Deepesh Singh Beniwal v. Union of India & Ors.
Bench- Justice Sangeet Lodha & Justice Rameshwar Vyas
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