[Payment of fees amid COVID-19] Punjab & Haryana High Court directs NLU Sonepat to address student grievances

The Punjab & Haryana High Court on Tuesday directed Dr BR Ambedkar National Law University (DBRANLU), Sonepat to address grievances raised by its students regarding payment of fees amid the University's closure effected by the COVID-19 pandemic [Raghav Gupta v. DBRANLU & Ors]..Justice Sudhir Mittal directed Vice-Chancellor Dr Viney Kapoor Mehra to treat the petition filed by the students as a representation and to deal with the grievances within four weeks. In the meanwhile, students will not be barred from writing the upcoming examinations for non-payment of fees..The Court was hearing a petition filed by the students challenging the requirement to make payments towards hostel fee, mess fees and other facilities that were unutilised during the University's closure due to COVID-19. In July 2020, the University had issued a circular stating that payment of hostel rent, health and sports facilities, amenities fee and advance mess bill would be suspended until physical classes resume. A similar notice was issued in June this year for the fresh batch of students that joined the University.DBRANLU then issued a series of circulars urging students to pay the tuition fees, failing which their names would be removed from the rolls. However, via a notice dated September 16, 2021, the University asked the students to deposit a consolidated sum of ₹1,18,000 which was inclusive of fees under the previously suspended heads, despite there being no change in the usage of the facilities. The notice also stated that defaulting students would be taken off the University rolls and would be barred from sitting for end-semester exams. Additionally, moot court fees, which was not charged for the batch of 2020-2025, had to be paid by students from the preceding batch of 2019-2024..The students claimed that the University previously, via its notice dated June 1, 2021, raised a fee bill for payment of ₹40,000 which had to be paid in two installments within a stipulated period. The timeline was later extended after notifying a penalty fee of ₹400, and students were allowed to appear for the exam on the condition that if the fee remained unpaid, the results of the defaulting students would not be declared. Meanwhile, the recently-inducted students from the Batch of 2021-2026 were expected to pay fees under the previously suspended heads.It was further contended that the University circulated a notice on December 6, 2021, with the list of students who have not paid the said fees and threatened to remove their names from the rolls..The students thus prayed for a direction to the University to amend the fee bill to remove the heads for which payment was previously suspended - hostel rent, health and sports facilities, amenities fee and advance mess bill. A prayer was also made to direct the University to charge equitable fees from all batches of DBRANLU.Advocates Roma Bhagat and Arvind Galav appeared for the petitioners..This is not the first time the issue of payment of fees during the COVID-19 pandemic has come up before the courts. Recently, the Patna High Court passed an order in favour of the students of the Chanakya National Law University, Patna, rendering the fee demand for unused facilities during COVID-19 arbitrary and illegal. .CNLU demand for facilities and library fees during COVID-19 arbitrary and illegal: Patna High Court.[Read Order here]