HC dismisses students' plea against fee hike by NIFT
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has dismissed a plea by some students of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) challenging fee hike, saying it cannot be termed arbitrary or oppressive.
The high court said it was of the opinion that the plea raised by 4th-year students challenging the fees hike is vague and cannot be accepted.
"The fee hike cannot be termed arbitrary or oppressive. There are no grounds to warrant any interference by this court. There is no merit in the present petition and the same is dismissed, Justice Jayant Nath said.
The court passed the order on a plea by the students raising grievance that the fees have been hiked by 10 percent for NRI quota students and 5 percent for non-NRI quota students.
The students have challenged the circular issued by the institute containing the fee-structure of the students for the academic year 2020-21.
After going through the institute's circular, the high court said the fee hike for non-NRI quota students was reduced by 5 percent for the semester of July-December, 2020, and also for January-June, 2021 keeping in view the present COVID-19 pandemic.
Petitioners Moubani Poddar, Ananya Narayanan, Sanskkriti Priyambda, and Twwisha Gupta, represented through advocate Abhik Chimni, urged that the system of fees hike is completely erroneous and there is no transparency.
He contended that it is not clear as to whether the procedure laid down under the NIFT Academic Programmes Ordinances 2012 has been complied with by the institute.
The petitioners urged that the fees hike for NRI quota students are excessive and now they have to pay more than nine lakh annually.
"...this fee-structure incorporated a fee-hike of 10 percent despite the current situation of COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the financial stability of the citizens of the country," the plea said.
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J&K: One dead, seven hospitalised after consuming wild vegetable in Rajouri
Rajouri/Jammu (PTI): One person died while seven others, mostly children, were hospitalised after allegedly consuming a wild vegetable in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, officials said on Saturday.
The incident was reported from Mohra village in the Kotranka subdivision, where members of two families consumed a wild vegetable following which they started showing symptoms of food poisoning on Friday evening, they said.
The affected persons were initially shifted to the Community Health Centre in Kandi and later referred to the Government Medical College Hospital Rajouri for specialised treatment.
Officials said an elderly man, identified as Mohammad Hussain (60), died during treatment, while seven other members of the two families are undergoing treatment at the hospital.
“Prima facie, it is a case of food poisoning, but the matter is still under investigation,” a doctor said.
Officials said an investigation into the incident has been initiated to determine the exact cause of the poisoning.
