Probing allegations of fee hike by school: Delhi government to High Court

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New Delhi: The Delhi High Court was on Tuesday informed by the Delhi Government that an enquiry was being conducted on the issue of fee hikes by a private city school, raised by about 600 parents of its students.

The government said that after the enquiry is completed, a comprehensive report would be provided by its Directorate of Education (DoE) to the parents in six weeks.

A bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Deepa Sharma disposed of the petition filed by the parents and granted them liberty to approach the court if they were aggrieved by the views of the DoE.

The court was hearing the petition in which the parents have alleged that a school in Greater Kailash-II in South Delhi was charging tuition, development and incremental fees in excess of what was permitted in law and sought a takeover of its management by the government.

The counsel for the parents' association claimed that the school was raising the fees every year without the approval or sanction of DoE or any authority. He said a communication was also made to the Prime Minister in this regard.

Delhi Government Standing Counsel Ramesh Singh submitted that a full-fledged inqury has been ordered to be conducted by the regional director regarding the grievances raised by the parents and a report would be given to them.

The petition, filed through advocate R B Arora, alleged that the school was charging for books and uniforms and taking Rs 1500 to 1700 every year for stationery but there was no improvement in the standard of education and infrastructure.

The plea has sought an audit of the school's accounts from 2011-12 till date and demanded the takeover of its management by the DoE. It had also sought a refund of excess fee along with interest.