Uploading financial statement by pvt schools will ensure transparency: HC

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 28

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that the uploading of a financial statement by private schools on their websites would ensure transparency and aid in achieving the goal of preventing profiteering and charging of capitation fee.

The Bench rules

“Each institute has the freedom to fix its own fee structure while taking into consideration the facilities and infrastructure. The institutes are also permitted to generate surplus funds, which they can use for the betterment and growth of the educational institutions. However, at the same time, the institutions cannot be permitted to indulge in profiteering or charge capitation fee,” said the High Court Bench.

The ruling came as a Division Bench of the High Court dismissed a bunch of petitions filed by the Independent Schools’ Association of Chandigarh, Kabir Education Society and other petitioners against the Union of India and other respondents.

The Bench of Justice Jaswant Singh and Justice Sant Parkash observed that the petitioners were aggrieved by a certain provision in the Punjab Regulation of Fee of Unaided Educational Institution Act, 2016, as extended to Chandigarh.

Their contention was that the uploading of income and expenditure accounts, and balance sheets, on the website had no rationale. It was not incidental to the objects to be achieved by the main enactment. The schools were already submitting financial information to the authorities concerned. As such, uploading financial information on their websites was not required as it would only render private institutions vulnerable to unbridled dissection of the accounts by the public.

The Bench asserted the 2016 Act extended to Chandigarh was enacted by Punjab to provide for the constitution of regulatory body to provide a mechanism for regulating fee of unaided educational institutions, besides related matters and incidental issues. Section 18 said every unaided educational institution was to maintain proper accounts of fees and charges. It also has to prepare annual statement of accounts which was to be audited by a qualified chartered accountant.

After hearing senior advocate and UT standing senior counsel Pankaj Jain and rival contentions, the Bench added it was settled position that there could be no fixing of rigid fee structure. “Each institute has freedom to fix its own fee structure while taking into consideration the facilities and the infrastructure of the institute. Further the institutes are also permitted to generate surplus funds which they can use for the betterment and growth of the educational institutions. But at the same time the institutions cannot be permitted to be indulged in profiteering or charging of capitation fees”.

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