Parents Of DPS Dwarka Students Move Delhi HC Against Expulsion

A plea has been moved before the Delhi High Court by parents of 32 students who were allegedly expelled by Delhi Public School (DPS), Dwarka, in connection with a dispute over a fee hike.

Filed by Advocate Manoj Kumar Sharma, the plea seeks the immediate reinstatement of the expelled students.

The plea highlights that despite a Delhi High Court order wherein it had criticised the school for harassing students over alleged non-payment of increased fees, the names of the students were struck off the rolls.

Pointing out that many of the students who had been expelled are in class 10, the plea states that such an expulsion jeopardises their career as some of them have already completed their pre-registration for board exams.

It has been further argued by the parents that the school did not accept the approved fee even when they tried to pay through cheques, adding that the school also withheld the online account details in order to pressure them into paying higher fees.

On 16 April, the Delhi High Court slammed the school for taking any coercive or discriminatory action against its students who were allegedly in arrears of fees. The application was filed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights seeking a restraining order against the school from taking any coercive actions against the students, who are allegedly in arrears of fees.

The bench of Justice Sachin Datta noted, “inspection report reveals a very disturbing state of affairs inasmuch as in view of the subsisting controversy / dispute regarding the fees chargeable, the school is subjecting the concerned students, who are of tender age, to considerable indignity and harassment”.

An inspection of the concerned school was conducted under the chairmanship of the District Magistrate, along with a team comprising senior academicians and officials from the Directorate of Education, Delhi. The inspection report revealed a highly disturbing state of affairs. Due to an ongoing dispute regarding the fees chargeable, the school subjected several young students to indignity and harassment.

Taking note of the findings, the court had restrained the petitioner school from engaging in the conduct detailed in the inspection report. Specifically, the school was barred from:

“(i) confining the students in the library of the school; (ii) preventing students from attending classes; (iii) segregating the students who have not paid the fees; (iv) preventing the said students from interacting with the other students; (v) preventing the said students from having access to all amenities of the school. (vi) subjecting such students to any other form of discrimination / Prejudice”.