High Court quashes Delhi govt order on collection of annual charges, development fee by pvt schools

Agreeing with the schools' contentions, the Delhi high court said that the private recognized unaided schools were "clearly dependent only on the fees collected to cover their salary, establishment and all other expenditure".

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed that the Delhi government has no power to indefinitely postpone the collection of annual charges and development fees by private unaided schools as it would unreasonably restrict their functioning. Quashing the office orders of April and August 2020 issued by the Directorate of Education (DoE) of the Delhi government forbidding and postponing collection of annual charges and development fees, the high court said that they were "illegal" and "ultra vires the powers of the respondent (DoE) stipulated under the Delhi School Education (DSE) Act and the Rules. Justice Jayant Nath, however, noted that schools are saving some money on account of the fact that they are physically shut and said that the Supreme Court's direction -- in Indian School, Jodhpur vs. the State of Rajasthan -- that schools shall collect annual fees with a deduction of 15 per cent shall apply in the instant case.