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Delhi High Court issued Notice to Delhi Govt over Scheme for Reimbursement of Tuition Fees to School Students from Minority Communities. This was seen in the case of AVINASH MEHROTRA v. GOVERNMENT OF NCT OF DELHI & ORS the case was presided over by A division bench comprising of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad.

Facts of the case-

A PIL was moved by Avinash Malhotra for the current challenged scheme where minorities students with family income below Rs. 3 Lakh per annum were eligible for obtaining reimbursement of tuition fees and other compulsory fees in recognized public schools in Delhi.

The petitioners case is that current policy is violative of Article 14 and 15 of the Constitution of India, insofar as it does not extend the benefits to all students from low-income families. The arguments raised were that as per the impugned scheme for reimbursement is only available for students belonging to minority communities and persons who belong to families with lower levels of income are excluded solely on the grounds of their religion and caste.

Moreover plea also stated –  If Reimbursement of fees is provided to all people who belong to low-income families, the policy would fall within the enabling provision which is Article 15(6). If however the same is not economically feasible for the Respondents, they would have no choice but to recall the impugned policy as the same does not fall within the four corners of the enabling provision found in Article 15,” .

Observation by the court-

The court observed that  “Because under the current policy, a student belonging to a minority community who has annual family income of Rs. 2,95,000 will be eligible for a refund of tuition fees, but a student with an annual family income of Rs. 1,00,000, who does not belong to a minority community will not be entitled to refund. It is contended that this makes the policy unjust, and manifestly arbitrary.”

Following this the court issued Notice to Delhi Govt over Scheme for Reimbursement of Tuition Fees to School Students from Minority Communities. The final matter is now going to be heard on December 13.

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Blog reviewed by Utkarsh Sahu