High Court denied PIL asking universities to only charge tuition fees during COVID-19
New Delhi:
The Delhi High Court today refused to receive a PIL requesting directives from universities and these institutions to only charge tuition fees, this also in installments, given the current COVID-19 pandemic, and has declared that “concessions are not a question of law”. .
Rather, a bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Judge Prateek Jalan asked the relevant authorities to treat the plea as representation and to make a decision in accordance with the law, rules, regulations and government policy applicable to the facts of the case. the case.
Under the leadership, the petition, presented by a fourth-year law student, was rejected.
During the brief hearing, the bench said that universities need to pay their professors and also set up the infrastructure for online courses and therefore cannot be asked to grant fee concessions.
He disapproved of various reliefs, such as universities providing gadgets and 4G internet packs to students, researched PIL and said “what’s the harm in asking”.
“Maangne mein kya jaata hai (what’s the harm in asking). You can ask the sky and the sky. Why not ask for bikes and cars too as they (the students) have to go to college / university. What harm is there in asking. “
“Such a petition deserves to be dismissed with costs, but we are not doing it now,” said the bench, ruling on the plea filed by lawyer Kush Sharma.
The law student, in his plea, had sought instructions from the Ministry of Education of various universities and such institutions to discontinue the fees they charge and also grant concessions to parents on a case-by-case basis. . in the form of an extension of the deadline for filing costs.
The petition also called for guidelines to be developed to ensure that universities provide gadgets and fast internet connections, to those who cannot afford them, so that all students have access to online education or courses organized during the pandemic.
He had claimed that although the University Grants Commission and the Bar Council of India had given advice to universities to grant concessions on fees, these were only requests and universities did not adhere to the same thing.
The petition argued that due to the pandemic, not only the country’s GDP has shrunk, but people employed in various sectors have lost their jobs or have had to deal with reduced wages.
“As a result, household income in all income groups has significantly decreased and people are facing severe cash shortage and financial burden. Due to these circumstances, parents of students taking undergraduate and postgraduate courses find it extremely difficult to pay their ward’s fees. “
“This situation is more alarming in the case of the parents of students who continue their studies in educational establishments which are created within the framework of private universities and known as universities which charge very high tuition fees”, had indicated the petition.
He further alleged that some educational institutions were taking coercive action, such as repeatedly calling, sending messages or sending emails to parents threatening to cross out the names of their neighborhoods or deny them access to online courses. for non-payment of fees.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
