DPS fee row: Delhi High Court allows expelled students to resume studies on paying 50% of hiked fee

The Delhi High Court has allowed students recently expelled from Delhi Public School, Dwarka (DPS) over a failure to pay an increased school fee, to be reinstated to their classes, provided that their parents deposit 50 per cent of the hiked school fee..The Court clarified that the rebate of 50 per cent is on the hiked component of the fee and that the base fee shall be paid in full.Justice Vikas Mahajan passed an interim order, adding that this arrangement will continue till the Department of Education (DoE) takes a decision on whether the fee hike should stand and the disposal of a case filed over the fee hike issue. “It is directed that the wards of the petitioners shall be allowed to continue their studies in their respective classes till the pendency of the present petition subject to the parents depositing 50% of the hiked school fee for the academic years 2024-25 onwards,” the Court stated..The Court granted interim relief in a case filed by the parents of students who were expelled by DPS, Dwarka, recently, after they could not pay the hiked fee.The parents of the school wards had questioned the proposed fee hike for the current academic year and the school’s non-compliance with orders passed by the Department of Education. They stated that bouncers were placed outside the school to stop students from entering the school after the hiked fees were not paid. They argued that these decisions were contrary to the High Court's earlier order, which protected the interests of the students. They added that in complete disregard of the DoE’s orders, DPS has yet to refund the excess unapproved fee charged by them. Further, it is alleged that the school has been harassing students and their parents by demanding increased fees from the parents, striking off the names of their wards from the school rolls, and by not allowing students who did not pay the hiked fee to sit in classes.."Do you get sadistic pleasure?" Delhi High Court on DPS Dwarka expulsion of 32 students.In a May 16 order, the Court noted that discrimination and victimisation of the students on the ground of non-payment of a hiked fee is not acceptable. Nevertheless, it observed that there is no embargo on DPS to prevent it from hiking school fees, subject to the DoE’s approval for the same. “Until and unless the DoE reviews the financial statements of the school and on its findings, rejects the statement of fee providing for enhancement for the academic sessions 2024-25 onwards on the touch stone of 'profiteering' and 'commercialisation' of education, the enunciation of law as noted above does not provide for any embargo on such enhancement of fee,” the Court observed. .Accordingly, the Court has stated that the parents ought to pay the fee (50 per cent of the hiked part) till the DoE takes a decision on the matter, and subject to the final outcome of the present writ petition.The Court also clarified that the pending dues of the students shall be calculated after adjusting the excess fee collected for the year 2023-2024.The next date of hearing is August 28. .Advocates Manish Gupta, Sandeep Gupta, Deepti Verma, Rishabh Rai and Yeshraj appeared for the parents. Senior Advocates Pinaki Misra and Puneet Mittal along with Advocates Bhuvan Gugnani, Sakshi Mendiratta, Sameer Vatts, Abhisumat Gupta, Rupender Sharma and Nupur Mantoo appeared for DPS Dwarka. Standing Counsel Sameer Vashishtha appeared for the DoE. .[Read order]