RAMJAS SCHOOL Vs. DIRECTORATE OF EDUCATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) To what extent can the Directorate of Education monitor the fixation of fees, by a private unaided school, in a situation in which the land, on which the school is located, has been allotted to the society administering the school without any caveat requiring the school to take prior approval, of the Directorate of Education, before increasing its fees in any academic session?

(2.) The petitioner would contend that the Directorate of Education (hereinafter referred to as "the DoE") is completely proscribed from interfering with the manner in which a school, which is not governed by any such 'land clause', fixes its fees, absent any element of profiteering. According to the petitioner, the autonomy, available to a private unaided school, in the management of its affairs, extends to the fixation of its fees, and the DoE cannot arrogate, to itself, the best discretion in that regard. Nor can the DoE, according to the petitioner, opine that the surplus funds, available with a private unaided School, were more than sufficient for the school to manage its affairs and that, therefore, no justification, for increase of fees, by the school, existed. Any such attempt, on the part of the DoE, submits the petitioner, would amount to illegal trespass, by the DoE, into the area of autonomy enjoyed by the school.

(3.) The DoE would contend, per contra, that the power, vested in the DoE, to ensure that Schools do not indulge in commercialisation of education, extends to interfering with the manner in which fees are fixed by the school. Fixation of fees, by the school, in such a manner as would result in collections grossly in excess of the expenses incurred by the school, according to the DoE, may amount to commercialisation of education by the school, and would justify interference by the DoE. The DoE places reliance, in this regard, on Rules 172 to 177 of the Delhi School Education Rules, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as "the DSE Rules") which, according to the DoE, set out the manner in which fees, collected by a School, are to be applied by it. In the event a School is found to be utilising the fees collected by it, in a manner which does not subscribe to the scheme contained in Rules 172 to 177 of the DSE Rules, the DoE would contend that it has every right to interfere.