Delhi HC Asks Authorities To Consider Waiving Exam Fees Of Class 10 And 12 Students

The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Aam Admi Party (AAP) government and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to treat a PIL as representation that sought a waiver of the exam fees for students of classes 10 and 12 in the current academic year in view of the ongoing pandemic.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan asked the authorities concerned to treat the petition by an NGO as a representation and take a decision in accordance with the law, as early as possible, preferably within three weeks of receiving the court's order.

With the direction, the bench disposed of the PIL moved by NGO Social Jurist, through advocate Ashok Agarwal, seeking a direction to the Delhi government to pay the CBSE exam fees of students in government schools.

Agarwal, during the hearing via video conference, told the bench that incomes of many parents, especially those whose kids study in government schools, have suffered or have been lost owing to the pandemic and therefore, they are finding it tough to pay the exam fees which range between Rs. 1,200 to Rs. 2,500 per student.

However, the Delhi government told court that it cannot afford to foot the bill of the students' exam fees this year as it did last year as the amount is over Rs. 100 crore. It told the bench that it has written to CBSE to waive the exam fees for the current academic year.