The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the Special leave Petition (SlP) of DAV College Managing Committee of Odisha to revise the fee structures of DAV schools running in the State. The DAV authorities were seeking fee hike as the schools are giving salary to its teachers as per the recommendation of the Sixth Pay Commission.
A Bench of the court comprising Justices RM lodha and Shiva Kirti Singh directed that the DAV College Managing Committee and the concerned educational institutions represented by it shall be entitled to revise their fee structure with immediate effect as per the May 2, 2013 recommendations of the Fee Structure Committee of Odisha.
The proposal to hike the fee structures in the DAV schools in Odisha was quashed by the Odisha High Court in June 2011 on the ground that the College Managing Committee could not justify the fee revision commensurate with the facilities provided to the students.Challenging the High Court’s judgement and its order, the Managing Committee preferred the SlP in the Supreme Court. After hearing the appellant and the respondents comprising the parents’ association and Odisha Government, the SC had reserved its verdict a fortnight ago.
Pronouncing its judgement, the SC heavily relied upon the report of the Fee Structure Committee of Odisha, which had reassured the Court that the College Managing Committee and the schools under it have been allowed only reasonable profit to which they are entitled under law.
The Supreme Court, deciding the other contentious issue, also clarified that the existing Managing Committee in the schools constituted under the CBSE bylaws shall continue to manage the concerned schools.The Supreme Court, however, cautioned that if a private educational institution has met all the requirements of obtaining NOC and affiliation, then its claim for revision of fees should be considered expeditiously on permissible parameters.
“Objections if any, should be entertained only from Parents’ Representatives and not from individual parents,” the SC said, adding that an individual may at times be reckless and may harm the educational prospects of all the students of the school.