The judgement of the Madras High Court’s Madurai Bench Dtd.18.05.2017 which directed the school management not to withhold the Transfer Certificate, Mark Statements & Conduct Certificate of the students for the non payment of fees & also mentioned that the only remedy for the school management is to file recovery suit against the parents & further warned the school management not to adopt coercive methods, has been finally uploaded & available for download on the official website of the Madras High Court pursuant to request made by the social activist from Rajasthan, Smt.Pratibha Deepak to the registrar of the Madras High Court.
Explaining this issue, Smt.Pratibha Deepak said that, ‘I came to know about the Madras High Court’s judgement from the newspapers. However when i tried to search the judgement on the official website of the Madras High Court, i observed that the judgement is not uploaded yet. Accordingly i sent my query to the Registrar of the Madras High Court who took the immediate action and the order was uploaded instantly’.
The organization has already published an article earlier related to case laws against illegal fee hike & expulsion of the children by the private schools as follows-
Case Laws against Illegal Fee Hike, Child Harassment & Expulsion by the Schools
The order of the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court above mentioned can be viewed and downloaded from the following link-
W.P(MD).Nos.9242 and 9243 of 2017- Schools Cannot Withhold T.C for Non-Payment of Fees-Madras High Court.Pdf
Facts of the Case-
The respondent school in this matter withheld the Transfer Certificate, Mark Statements & Conduct Certificate of the students on the ground that the parents had not paid the fees of Rs.29200/- whereas the petitioner parents made the prayer to the Madras High Court to refund Rs.25000/- refundable deposit amount they had made to the school management in the year 2015-16 at the time of the children’s admission.
Important Aspects Of The Judgement-
Taking the serious cognizance of this matter, the Madras High Court ruling in favor of the parents declared following aspects-
1) School Has No Authority To Withhold Transfer Certificates & Other Documents-
The court mentioned in Para 3 of the judgement as follows-
‘3. No school has any authority to deny the issuance of the transfer certificates and other documents, when the children opt to move to other schools. If at all there exists any legitimate claims against the parents, the School has to move the civil court for realizing the same, but the future of the children should not be held to ransom on this score.’
2) Central Borad of Secondary Examination (CBSE) has to pay attention to such violations by the school managements-
The court mentioned in Para 6 of the judgement as follows-
‘6. In circumstances such as these, the authorities such as second respondent has to pay his attention to regulate due the process by which educational institutions under his control are run. The irresponsibility of such authorities ultimately leave its unfortunate imprints on the future of the innocent children to which this Court cannot close his eyes to.’
3) Arrogance of the School Management Referring Lawyers as ‘Criminals’-
The court came heavily against the school management in para 7 for referring lawyers as criminals merely because parents served legal notice to the school management through lawyer as follows-
‘7.It requires to be recorded that the irresponsibility of the fourth respondent is highlighted by his arrogance in calling all lawyers as criminals for the sin of issuance of the legal notice for achieving the purpose sought in this writ petition. It is very unfortunate someone who runs an educational institutions with an avowed object of imparting knowledge and discipline to children should lose his balance and make such uncalled for statements.’
4) Court rules- ‘School to release the documents or children to get free education’-
The court in para 8 of the judgement not only declared that the school management shall immediately release the Transfer Certificate, Mark Statements & Conduct Certificate but also that if the same is not complied the children would get free education as the school is responsible for the same as follows-
‘8.The fourth respondent is hereby directed to issue the transfer certificates, mark statements, conduct certificates and other original documents concerning the petitioner’s children viz., N.Kudiarasu and N. Eyarkai, forthwith. In case of any failure to obey this order by the fourth respondent resulting in delay and consequently leading to inability of the petitioner to secure admission for his children in other schools, the children would continue their education in the next academic year in the same school (fourth respondent) but, without payment of any fees, for the situation has arisen only due to the obstinacy and insensitivity of the fourth respondent.’
We are thankful to social activist Smt.Pratibha Deepak whose efforts have made this judgement available & may be useful for the thousands of crusader parents who are fighting against the commercialization of the education.
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-Adv.Siddharthshankar Sharma
Founder President-Bharatiya Krantikari Sangathan
