The Delhi government will begin the process of taking over 16 of the 449 schools which have been issued show cause notice to refund excess fee. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government informed this to the Delhi High Court in an affidavit submitted by it on Wednesday.
"The affidavit has been submitted to the court in which we have mentioned the names. By next week, we will start processing the orders. The 16 schools will be served notices informing them about the takeover process," said a senior Delhi government official.
The affidavit said that show cause notices for withdrawal of recognition had been issued to the 17 private unaided schools who had not responded. In case of minority schools, action for de-recognition will be initiated.
"After examining schools' replies, it has been found that 16 schools have either not refunded the amount or refunded only partially. Due processes will be followed for taking over the management of such schools, except in the case of minority schools wherein action for de-recognition will be initiated," it said. "One remaining school claims to have fully refunded the amount, which is subject to verification."
The court was hearing petitions by more than 100 private schools which had challenged the May 29 notification of the Directorate of Education (DoE) which ordered refund of extra fees, failing which the schools would be taken over by the government.
The Justice Anil Dev Committee had named 544 schools for charging unjustified fees on the account of implementing the Sixth Pay Commission. The High Court on Wednesday directed the aggrieved schools to refund 75 per cent of the excess fees to avoid any coercive action.
A bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Najmi Waziri directed that the money be deposited within 14 days in the form of cash, fixed deposit (FDR) and bank guarantee favouring the Registrar General in the High Court Registry.
On August 17, the Delhi government had informed the court that while 15 schools have fully refunded the fees, to the tune of Rs 14.5 crore, to parents, 136 have partially refunded the fees, amounting to Rs 8.2 crore. As many as 13 schools have been shut while one of them has been taken over.
THE CONTROVERSY
- The Justice Anil Dev Committee named 544 schools for charging unjustified fees
- The High Court directed the aggrieved schools to refund 75 per cent of the excess fees
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