APEEJAY SCHOOL Vs. DHRITI DUGGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted.

(2.) The appellant is an unaided private school which filed suits for recovery of money, against the students and their parents, which recovery was of the fee hike notified to the parents and their wards, which the parents failed to remit. The suits were decreed by the trial court and in the appeals filed by the defendants, minor modifications were made to the decretal amount and the interest levied, which was reduced from 12% to 6%. The trial court directed the recovery subject to the outcome of the decision of the Fee and Fund Regulatory Committee (hereinafter referred to as "FFRC") established under the Haryana School Education Act, 1995["the Act"] and Haryana School Education Rules, 2003["the Rules"]; which body was entrusted to go into the reasonableness and justification of the hike in fees.

(3.) In appeal, the Appellate Court, while affirming the judgment and decree, directed refund of the entire amounts if the FFRC finds in favour of the defendant students. The plaintiff school filed a Review Petition before the Appellate Court pointing out that, if at all, the FFRC holds in favour of the defendant students, the refund can be only to the extent, the FFRC interferes with the fee hike. The Review Petition was dismissed against which thirty-one Second Appeals were filed by the school. Twenty-Seven, Second Appeals were filed by the parents against the Appellate Order affirming the judgment and decree of the trial court. The High Court of Punjab and Haryana, interfered with the concurrent findings on the ground that the rules provided an alternate remedy, which read with Sec. 22 of the Act, specifically ousted the jurisdiction of the civil courts in fee hike matters. The Special Leave Petitions are filed against the Order of the High Court in which we have granted leave.