Tuition fee can be charged only if online education being imparted: HC
Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High court on Thursday ruled that schools in Punjab can charge tuition fee if and only if they have been imparting online education to students during the lockdown period.
A division bench of justices Rajeev Sharma and Harinder Singh Sidhu also held that that teachers and staff, whether permanent or appointed on a contractual basis, we're entitled to their regular salaries which they were getting before the imposition of the lockdown on March 23.
We direct that tuition fee would be charged only if the students are being offered online classes on day to day basis during the lock-down period, the bench said in its order.
The court also asked the schools not to charge any transportation charges as students were not being ferried during the lockdown period.
The court also directed the school managements to file their balance sheets for the preceding seven months, duly verified by a chartered accountant within two weeks.
The division bench gave its order partially amending a single-judge bench order of June 30 this year on the issue.
The directions issued by the learned Single Judge vide judgment dated June 30, 2020, shall stand modified to the extent as ordered here-in-above till the disposal of these appeals, the division bench said in its order.
The bench fixed November 12 as the next date for the final hearing.
The order came on a bunch of petitions filed by parents and also the Punjab government against the June 30 order of single bench Justice Nirmaljit Kaur who had allowed private schools to collect the fee irrespective of they were offering online education or not, and to charge actual expenses incurred, for the lockdown period.
A division bench of Chief Justice Ravi Shankar Jha and Justice Arun Palli had on July 20 given interim relief to the students saying that their names would not be struck off the rolls of private schools in Punjab on account of the non-payment of fees.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
