Bengaluru: Ending the uncertainty over the compliance of the State Government’s Jan. 29, 2021 order cutting 30 percent of the School fee, issued in the wake of COVID-19 crisis, the Karnataka High Court on Thursday disposed of petitions filed by Private School managements, by ordering a 15 percent cut in fee for the academic year 2020-21.

In its ruling, the HC cited a May 3, 2021 Supreme Court order in Indian School, Jodhpur versus the State of Rajasthan case, which allowed a 15 percent cut in fees for the 2020-21 academic year.

A Single Bench of the High Court comprising Justice R. Devdas, which heard the petition filed by School managements, asked Schools not to debar any student from attending online or physical classes over non-payment of fees, including instalments and arrears. The Court also observed that Schools must sympathetically consider on a case-by-case basis the request of parents who cannot pay fees.

The Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka, Karnataka State Minorities Educational Institutions Managements Federation and others had challenged the  directive issued by the Karnataka Government asking all the Private Schools to collect only 70 percent of the fees collected in 2019-20. Petitioners  had also argued that the directive, which barred coercive action, had resulted in parents not paying fees.