SooperKanoon Citation | sooperkanoon.com/1039703 |
Court | Madhya Pradesh High Court |
Decided On | Dec-20-2012 |
Appellant | Mohd.Zeeshan Khan |
Respondent | The State of Madhya Pradesh |
1 HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH : JABALPUR D.B. : Hon. Shri Justice Krishn Kumar Lahoti & Hon. Smt. Justice Vimla Jain Writ Petition No.14213/2005 Mohd. Zeeshan Khan ………………………. Petitioner Versus State of Madhya Pradesh and others ........………………. Respondents Shri K.N.Fakhruddin, Advocate, for the petitioner. Shri P.K.Kaurav, Deputy Advocate General for res. nos.1 to 3. Shri Ajay Mishra, Senior Advocate with Shri Gaurav Tiwari, Advocate for the respondents No.4 and 5. O R D E R (20/12/2012) PER: Smt.Vimla Jain, J :
1. By means of this petition the petitioner calls in question, the excess fees charged by the respondent no.4 College from the petitioner and other students, in violation of the fees Schedule fixed by the respondent no.2. 2. The facts giving rise to filing of this writ petition, briefly stated, are that petitioner had taken admission in the respondent no.4 College in B.D.S. course in the year 200304 from the management quota. The fees schedule is fixed by the State Govt. for the State quota seats and the management quota seats. Different fees were fixed for different courses/quotas by the State Govt. The fees schedule fixed by the State Govt. for the academic year 200304 for the management quota of the respondent no.4 College 2 was Rs.1,12,000. The respondent no.4 was No. authorised to charge fee in excess of the prescribed fee. In violation of the fees schedule of the State, the respondent no.4 had charged Rs.2,44,100 for the I year and Rs.2,14,000 for II, III and IV years as fees from the petitioner which is evident from the certificate dated 8.10.2003, annexure P/2 and fee receipts, annexure P/3. The respondent no.4 had also charged hostel fees and bus fees whereas the petitioner had No. availed such facility. The petitioner had objected to the excessive fees charged by the respondent no.4 and had made various representations to the respondents. The petitioner was continuously harassed and tortured by the college management and ultimately he was forced to leave the college. Thereafter, the petitioner had requested the college management to return the original certificates deposited by him but the same were not delivered to him. The petitioner has, therefore, challenged the act of the respondent no.4 charging excess fees from him and other students and illegally retaining his original certificates. The petitioner has also prayed for award of compensation of Rs.10 Lac for mental agony and for ruining his career.
3. Respondent no.3 University has submitted in its return that excess fees charged by the college was illegal.
4. Respondents no.4 and 5 have denied the allegations made in the petition and submitted that the committee headed by Justice S.Dwivedi prescribed the tuition fees of Rs.1,12,000/ per year for the management quota students. Annexure P/2 was issued by the College much prior to the fees prescribed by the State Govt. on 10.12.2004 by annexure P/1. Prior to recommendations of the Committee and issuance of order dated 10.12.2004, annexure P/1, the private colleges were free to charge fees as per the schedule fixed by the college. After formation of Committee and prescription of the fees for each college, the college was charging fees as per the 3 order, annexure P/1. As far as petitioner is concerned, the total fees paid by him was not more than the prescribed fee of complete four years duration of course. The respondents denied that petitioner has paid Rs.2,40,000/ in each year and submitted that excess fees, if any, paid by the petitioner was subject to final adjustment keeping in view the recommendation of the Committee. They have also submitted that the State Govt. has made M.P. Medical and Dental Bachelor Entrance Examination Rules, 2003, wherein it was specifically provided that after taking admission if student leaves the course without completing the same, the fees paid and security amount deposited by the student shall No. be refunded and his original documents shall only be returned if he deposits the complete tuition fees of entire duration of course, i.e. 4 years. 5. The petitioner deposited total fees amounting Rs.4,69,500/ towards tuition fees, security deposit etc. as per annexure P/3 filed by the petitioner himself whereas the Committee has prescribed fee of Rs.1,12,000/ for one academic year which makes total of Rs.4,48,000/ for the whole course of four years excluding security deposit and other fees. Since the petitioner had initially paid fees as per the fee schedule prescribed by the college, the amount has been adjusted in subsequent payments and no excess amount has been charged from the petitioner. Since the petitioner has left the course in the mid session, he is not entitled for any refund of tuition fees paid for the whole course, as well as security deposit etc. The college had never denied return of the original documents. Infact the college came to know about this fact only when it received the notice of the petition. The college has immediately sent letter dated 4.12.2005 to the petitioner to collect the original documents. The postal receipt is filed as Annexure R4/1. The college has never charged excess fees from any student. The petition is misconceived and deserves to be dismissed”
6. We have considered the rival submissions made by learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.
7. Learned counsel for respondent Nos. 4 and 5 submitted that the State Government has made M.P. Medical & Dental Bachelor Examination Rules, 2003, wherein it was provided that after taking admission if the student leaves the course without completing the same, the fees paid and security amount deposited by the student shall No. be refunded and his original documents shall only be returned if he deposits the complete tuition fees of entire duration of the course of four years.
8. In this case, the State Government is also a respondent but they did not support the above said submission made by respondent Nos. 4 and 5. On the contrary, they enquired into the complaint made by the petitioner. We have seen the report dated 18.9.2008 of such enquiry. The enquiry report reads thus : “The following table, in the light of order of the respondent no.1 shall specify the excess fee charged by the respondents no.4 and 5 : A. st 1 year 200304 (Management quota candidate) : Particulars Fee charged Fee chargeable Excess fee Rs. (A) Rs.(B) charged Rs.(A B) Tuition fee 4,39,000 1,12,000 3,27,000 Student fee 1,000 () 1,000 Caution money 10,000 ()10,000 Other fee Total Rs. 4,39,000 1,23,000 3,16,000 It is assumed that the petitioner being a localite was not using Hostel facilities. 5 nd B. 2 year 200405 (management quota candidate) : Particulars Fee charged Fee chargeable Excess fee Rs. (A) Rs.(B) charged Rs.(AB) Tuition fee 30,500 1,12,000 ()81,500 Student fee 1,000 () 1,000 Caution money Other fee 1,15,000 1,15,000 Total Rs. 1,45,500 1,13,000 32,500 The above comparative chart A and B clearly indicates that in the academic year 200304 the petitioner was expected to pay Rs.1,23,000 which included refundable caution money of Rs.10,000 also. Instead, he was made to pay Rs.4,39,000. It is clear from the records that the father of the petitioner was exerted undue pressure to satisfy the demand of respondent no.4 and 5 and had to borrow from the bank and other relatives to satisfy the demand of the college authorities and the college authorities unduly charged Rs.3,16,000 in excess in the first year of admission itself. The petitioner was expected to pay Rs.1,13,000 in second year of education i.e. in 200405 but the college again charged Rs.1,45,500. The receipt dated 19.4.2005 discloses charging of Rs.1,15,000 towards tuition and other fee. The order dated 10.12.2004 and 11.1.2005 do No. provide any room for “other fee”.. In this manner, the college authorities have charged excess fee Rs.3,16,000 in the year 200304 and Rs.32,500 in the year 200405”.. 9. The respondents no.4 and 5 did not challenge the said report and could not submit any order / rule of the State Govt. which could support their submissions. We are, therefore, of the view that the submissions made by learned counsel for respondents no.4 and 5 are not sustainable.
10. The question of payment of tuition fees for the academic session 200304 has been considered by the Division Bench of this Court in Writ Petition No.27726/2003 (Ku. Priyanka & others vs. 6 State of Madhya Pradesh & others) by an order dated 27/04/2007. The Division Bench directed thus. “23.From the aforesaid analysis, it will be clear that even after the judgment of the Supreme Court was delivered in TMA Pai Foundation on 31/10/2002, no regulation had been framed by the State Government of Madhya Pradesh nor any machinery devised to determine whether the fee proposed by a private Medical/Dental College in the State of Madhya Pradesh was rational and did No. amount to profiteering or charging of capitation fee and in absence of such regulation made by the State Government or machinery devised to determine whether the fee proposed by a private Medical/Dental College in the State of Madhya Pradesh for MBBS/BDS courses was rational and did No. amount to profiteering or charging of capitation fee, the judgment of the Supreme Court in TMA Pai Foundation could not be given effect to during the academic year 20032004, and the fees payable by the students had to be determined in accordance with the scheme in Unni Krishnan, which was in force for almost a decade. 24.As a matter of fact, the fees which have been proposed by the private Medical and Dental Colleges in the State of Madhya Pradesh for the academic year 20032004 are not rational and we cannot hold that the managements of these colleges have not charged capitation fees or have No. indulged in profiteering. The petitioners in W.P . No.22727/2003 and WP No. 27728/2003, which are private Dental Colleges in the State of Madhya Pradesh, have proposed fee of Rs.2,75,000/ per year for a student admitted to BDS course during the academic year 200304 and the petitioner in WP No.219/2005, which is a Private Medical College in the State of Madhya Pradesh, has proposed fee for MBBS course for students admitted during the academic year 200304 as Rs.3,50,000/ per year. On the other hand, the Fees Fixation Committee constituted pursuant to the directions of the Supreme Court in Islamic Academic of Education (supra) has determined the fees for MBBS and BDS courses for the students admitted during the subsequent the academic years 200405, 200506 and 200607 at much lower figures of Rs.1,64,000/ for R.D. Grdi 7 Medical College, Ujjain, Rs.1,46,000/ for college of Dental Science and Hospital, Indore, and Rs.1,12,000/ for other Dental Colleges. We are, thus, of the view that the fee of Rs.2,75,000/ per year for BDS course and Rs.3,50,000/ per year for MBBS course proposed by the petitioners in WP No.22727/2003, WP No.27728/2003 and WP No. 219/2005 are not in accordance with the judgment of the Supreme Court in TMA Pai Foundation (supra). 25. In the result, we hold that under the scheme in Unni Krishnan, the State Government had the authority to issue the orders dated 03/07/2003 and 09/09/2003 fixing the fees for free seats in MBBS and BDS courses in private Medical and Dental Colleges in the Madhya Pradesh at Rs.38,500/ per years for each student and that the students admitted to the Private Medical and Dental Colleges in the State of Madhya Pradesh in the academic year 200304 are liable to pay such fee of Rs.38,500/ per annum for the entire MBBS/BDS course. Accordingly, writ petitions No.27726/2003, 27729/2003 and 27735/2003 filed by the students are allowed and Writ Petitions No. 27727/2003, 27728/2003 and 219/2005 filed by the private Dental and Medical Colleges in the State of Madhya Pradesh are dismissed. Considering however the facts and circumstances of the case, the parties shall bear their own costs.”
11. As the matter of payment of fees for BDS course has already been examined by the Division Bench. The Division Bench has held that the fees Rs.38,500/ per annum could have been charged for the academic session 200304. In view of the law laid down by the Division Bench in Ku. Priyanka & others vs. State of Madhya Pradesh & others, we find that the petitioner has made out the case for refund of the excess fees charged by private Medical and Dental College. This petition also disposed of finally with the direction to respondents no. 4 & 5 to refund the excess fees Rs. 3,16,000/ for the year 200304 and Rs.32,500/ for the year 200405 as found in the para no.8 of this order, to the petitioner within a period of two months along with interest @ 7% per annum from the date of 8 filing of this petition till the date of final payment. In case the payment is No. made within three months from today, all the aforesaid amount shall be paid along with interest @ 10% per annum from today till the date of final payment. Petitioner shall be entitled for cost of this petition, counsel fee is fixed for Rs.2000/.
12. With the aforesaid directions, this petition is finally disposed of. (Krishn Kumar Lahoti) (Smt. Vimla Jain) Judge Judge manju 9 HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH : JABALPUR WRIT PETITION No.14213 of 2005 Mohd. Zeeshan Khan Versus State of Madhya Pradesh & others O R D E R ORDER
FOR CONSIDERATION (Smt. Vimla Jain) J U D G E /12/2012 HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE KRISHN KUMAR LAHOTI (Krishn Kumar Lahoti) J U D G E /12/2012 Post for: /12/2012 (Smt. Vimla Jain) J U D G E /12/2012 1