HC fee blow to mgmt quota students quitting midway KOCHI: A student who joins a self-financing college under management quota has to pay tuition fee in full if he decides to discontinue after closure of admissions, the Kerala high court has held. The ruling by Justice P R Ramachandra Menon came while considering a petition filed by Divya Sasi of Pathanamthitta questioning the demand to pay tuition fee in full by West Fort College of Nursing at Pottore in Thrissur when she chose to discontinue MSc nursing. When the student decided to discontinue from 2011-13 batch of MSc nursing (obstetrics and gynaecology) due to health reasons, the college management had declined to return her original certificates submitted at the time of admission for non-payment of balance tuition fee. At the time of joining, the student had paid annual tuition fee of Rs 1.5 lakh but she later on chose to discontinue the course on March 23, 2012. When she filed an application seeking return of her certificates, the management replied that she has to satisfy the liquidated damages for the same. In her case, it was payment of tuition fee for the remaining one year - Rs 1.5 lakh. The students counsel argued in the high court that the management has no power to retain the certificates or to exercise any lien with regard to the certificates surrendered at the time of admission. If at all any damages have to be paid, the amount has to be adjudicated by a civil court and it is not up to the college management to decide the quantum unilaterally, it was argued. The managements counsel contended that the petitioner chose to quit the course after the closure of admissions and the management was not in a position to accommodate any other student in the vacancy. The institution is a self-financing one, and necessary funds have to be procured from the tuition fee payable by students. If students choose to leave the institution after closure of the admissions, the institution will not be in a position to accommodate any other student. As a natural consequence, the institution will find it difficult to meet the requirements, particularly the salary payable to faculty and staff as also to run the institution. This would be detrimental to the rights and interest of other students who are pursuing studies there, besides causing huge loss to the institution, it was argued. It was also pointed out by the managements counsel that the liability to satisfy liquidated damages was included in the prospectus for the course. Standing counsels for Kerala Nurses and Midwives Council, and Kerala University of Health Sciences informed the court that they are only formal parties to the petition and do not have any supervisory role with regard to the course and affairs of the management. Ruling in favour of the college management, the court held, This court finds that there is no dispute with regard to the factual position narrated by the college management, that the petitioner chose to discontinue the course after closure of admissions. In the said circumstance, this court holds that the petitioner is liable to satisfy the balance fee in respect of the second year as well and that it does not require any fact adjudication to be pursued before the civil court. KOCHI: A student who joins a self-financing college under management quota has to pay tuition fee in full if he decides to discontinue after closure of admissions, the Kerala High Court has held. The ruling by justice PR Ramachandra Menon was while considering a petition filed by Divya Sasi of Pathanamthitta questioning the demand to pay tuition fee in full by West Fort College of Nursing at Pottore in Thrissur when she chose to discontinue from MSc Nursing. When the student decided to discontinue from 2011-13 batch of MSc Nursing (Obstetrics and Gynaecology) due to health reasons, the college management had declined to return her original certificates submitted at the time of admission for non-payment of balance tuition fee. At the time of joining, the student had paid annual tuition fee of Rs 1.5 lakh but she later on chose to discontinue from the course on March 23, 2012. When she filed an application seeking return of her certificates, the management replied that she has to satisfy the liquidated damages for the same. In her case, it was payment of tuition fee for the remaining one year - Rs 1.5 lakh. The students counsel argued at the high court that the management has no power to retain the certificates or to exercise any lien with regard to the certificates surrendered at the time of admission. If at all any damages have to be paid, the amount has to be adjudicated by a civil court and it is not up to the college management to decide the quantum unilaterally, it was argued. Managements counsel contended that the petitioner chose to quit the course after the closure of admissions and the management was not in a position to accommodate any other student in the vacancy. The Institution is a self-financing one and necessary funds have to be procured from the tuition fee payable by the students. If students choose to leave the Institution after closure of the admissions, the Institution will not be in a position to accommodate any other student. As a natural consequence, the Institution will find difficult to meet the requirements, particularly satisfaction of the salary payable to the faculty and staff and to run the Institution. This would be detrimental to the rights and interest of the other students who are pursuing the studies there, besides causing huge loss to the Institution, it was argued. It was also pointed out by the managements counsel that the liability to satisfy liquidated damages was included in the prospectus for the course. Standing counsels for Kerala Nurses and Midwives Council and Kerala University of Health Sciences informed the court that they are only formal parties to the petition and do not have any supervisory role with regard to the course and affairs of the management. Ruling in favour of the college management, the court held, This court finds that there is no dispute with regard to the factual position narrated by the college management, that the petitioner chose to discontinue the course after closure of admissions. In the said circumstance, this court holds that the petitioner is liable to satisfy the balance fees in respect of the second year as well and that it does not require any fact adjudication to be pursued before the civil court.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 04:57:34 +0000
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