Case Note & Summary
The Bombay High Court heard two writ petitions challenging the locus of individual parents to approach the Divisional Fee Regulatory Committee (DFRC) under the Maharashtra Educational Institutes (Regulation of Fees) Act. The petitioners, Euro School Education Trust and Indian Education Society, argued that only the management of educational institutes could approach the DFRC, not individual parents. The court, however, held that the phrase 'any person aggrieved' in the Act includes individual parents, as the Act's purpose is to regulate fees and protect parents from arbitrary charges. The court dismissed the petitions, affirming that parents have standing to seek fee regulation. The judgment was delivered by a division bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and Riyaz I. Chagla on 18th July 2017.
Headnote
A) Interpretation of Statutes - Locus Standi - 'Any Person Aggrieved' - Maharashtra Educational Institutes (Regulation of Fees) Act - The court interpreted the phrase 'any person aggrieved' in the Act to include individual parents, holding that they have locus to approach the Divisional Fee Regulatory Committee for fee regulation. The court reasoned that the Act's object is to protect parents from arbitrary fees, and restricting locus to management would defeat that purpose. (Paras 3-5)
Issue of Consideration
Whether individual parents have locus to approach the Divisional Fee Regulatory Committee under the Maharashtra Educational Institutes (Regulation of Fees) Act.
Final Decision
The court dismissed the writ petitions, holding that individual parents have locus to approach the Divisional Fee Regulatory Committee under the Maharashtra Educational Institutes (Regulation of Fees) Act.
Law Points
- Locus standi
- Interpretation of statutes
- Fee regulation
- Any person aggrieved
- Parental rights
