C.W.P.No.17585 of 2011 1 In the High Court for the States of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh … C.W.P.No.17585 of 2011 Date of decision: 13.10.2011 Court on its own motion ..Petitioner Versus State of Punjab ..Respondent Coram: Hon’ble the Acting Chief Justice Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajiv Narain Raina Present: Mr. Amol Rattan Singh, Addl.A.G.Punjab. .. 1. To be referred to the reporters or not? 2. Whether the judgment should be reported in the digest? Rajiv Narain Raina,J. 1. An unsigned and anonymous letter was received in the Secretariat of Hon'ble the Chief Justice of this Court purporting to be a complaint from parents of students of one S.A.N. Jain Model Senior Secondary School, Circular Road, Ludhiana alleging that there has been a substantial decline in educational standard in the school and that the school fee has been enhanced over the year manifold and that such fee is taken in lump-sum of 3 months in advance and that it has become difficult for parents to deposit school fees in advance. The further complaint made was that a notice had been issued by the school authorities handed over to the wards of the parents who were asked to deposit `200/- each as tuition fee for each subject for which an extra period of 40 minutes would be organized after school hours for their wards. Under this compulsion, the complaint was made. This complaint was put up before Hon'ble the Acting C.W.P.No.17585 of 2011 2 Chief Justice who directed that the matter be taken up on the judicial side and be treated as Public Interest Litigation . Accordingly, the matter was posted as Court on its own motion v. State of Punjab and was registered as CWP No. 17585 of 2011. On 20.9.2011, notice of motion for final disposal was issued for 27.9.2011 when the learned Additional Advocate General,Punjab accepted notice in Court and was supplied by the Registry of this Court the paper book along with photo copy of the notice dated 21.7.2011, appended with the unsigned complaint. Mr. V.K.Jindal, Addl. A.G. Punjab appeared on 27.9.2011 and stated that a comprehensive affidavit would be filed with regard to the allegations made in the said complaint. The State Government appears to have taken cognizance of the proceedings in the present case and its Secretary, Department of Education by an order dated 22.9.2011 required the Circle Education Officer, Patiala, Circle Nabha to conduct an on the spot inquiry at the school in respect of the complaint. The respondent-State has filed an affidavit of Mr. Narinder Singh Baath, P.C.S. Additional Secretary to Government of Punjab, Department of School Education together with the inquiry report. The findings of the inquiry are to the effect that the school is a private institution that does not receive any aid from the Government and that it is run by a private managing committee. It was also found that the school fee is paid by parents directly into a bank account maintained by the school and that in order to improve standard of education, a programme of holding extra coaching classes after school hours was initiated with the consent of the parents at a nominal fee of `200/- per subject which was far lower than the fee charged by private tutors outside the school. It was also found that the total student strength of the school is 1811 out of which only 97 students have opted for extra coaching classes. The Inquiry Officer C.W.P.No.17585 of 2011 3 has summed up that there is no proof whatsoever regarding the truthfulness of the complaint. Though this Court cannot pay encomiums to tuitions after school hours but we cannot also loose sight of the fact that they may be students who may be in dire need of extra coaching to bring them up to the desired standard. Besides, we find that on 97 parents have opted for the extra coaching which is a comparatively small number looking to the total student strength. In the above circumstances, we do not think that there would be any need for further probe or to issue notice to the School. We accordingly let the matter rest here. The matter is, therefore, given a quietus and is disposed of. (M.M.KUMAR) (RAJIV NARAIN RAINA) ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE JUDGE October 13,2011 nk