Costs of air conditioning services provided to the children in the school have to be borne by the parents: Delhi High Court

Recently, the Delhi High Court (HC) dismissed a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) against a private school, the Maharaja Agrasain Public School, charging Rs. 2000 per month for air conditioning in classes. The HC bench said, “The costs of air conditioning services provided to the children in the school have to be borne by the parents as it is a facility provided to the children and is no different from the other charges such as lab fee and smart class fee…” The petitioner, Manish Goel, argued that the practice was unreasonable and requested the Directorate of Education (DoE) to intervene. After hearing the contentions, the HC bench held that parents are responsible for paying the costs of air conditioning services provided to the children in the school. It added, “the parents, while selecting the school, have to be mindful of the facilities and the cost of the facilities provided to the children in the school. The financial burden of providing such facilities cannot be fastened on the school management alone.” Further, the Delhi HC dismissed the petition stating that “The Annexure P-2 filed with this petition is the Fee Receipt issued by Respondent No. 5 School for the session 2023-24 and it duly records the entry of charges for air-conditioner. There is thus, a presumption that the said charges have been raised after apprising the DoE of the fee and charge schedule. In view of the admission of the Petitioner that the facility of air conditioning is being provided to the students in the classrooms, prima facie, there is no irregularity in the charge levied by the School.”