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.
NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
