Bhubaneswar: In a major relief to a number of private unaided schools in Odisha, the Supreme Court Thursday exempted them from the binding effect of the state government’s notification directing waiver of fees for the pandemic period, beginning from April 2020 till reopening of schools.
A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar, held that the notification issued by state government January 19 for fee waiver will not have binding effect on those ICSE and CBSE private un-aided schools which were not signatories of the memorandum of understanding signed in September last year.
The bench, also comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Krishna Murari, asked the state government to consult with these school associations to make arrangements with regards to fees.
The bench also asked the state government to go through its order in a similar case of Rajasthan.
The court granted liberty to schools for approaching the High Court if they are aggrieved with any notification of the state government in future.
Significantly, the Supreme Court in Gandhi Sewa Sadan Rajsamand vs State of Rajasthan case had allowed the schools to collect 100 per cent fee for the academic year 2019- 20 and 2020-21 in six monthly installments.
Earlier on Wednesday, the bench had observed that it would pass an order similar to the one it had passed in the Rajasthan case. “Go through the interim order.
If you do not agree with that then make your submissions,” the bench had observed Wednesday.
The apex court Thursday disposed of the petition filed by Association of Odisha ICSE Schools challenging the state government’s notification regarding fee waiver in private un-aided schools.
The association had challenged the order of Odisha High Court that upheld the notification issued by the state government January 19 allowing the fee waiver due to pandemic.
In the petition, filed through its secretary, the association of Odisha ICSE Schools had challenged the state government’s January 19 notification, issued in compliance to the order of Orissa High court dated January 7 that took on record the memorandum of understanding, dated September 10, 2020, where government and several other parties had agreed for fee waiver in a flat rate and prepared a slab of fees to be waived by private Un-aided institutions.
The petitioner had contended in the petition that the state government had contradictorily taken support of the MoU despite its clear submission before the High Court that there is no provision under the Orissa Education Act, 1969 for fixation of fee structure of different Private Un-Aided schools.
The Petitioner had submitted that during the lockdown almost all schools were conducting online classes and teachers were discharging their duties by imparting course work over an online system.
PNN