TMI Blog2017 (7) TMI 1459X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... given to the legislative intent, a recourse to the other principals of statutory interpretation would be permissible. It is more than well settled that a right to appeal is a creature of a statute. There cannot be an inherent right to an appeal, until the statute specifically provides for the same. If the legislature in its wisdom has not provided for right to appeal by individual parents before DFRC, if we arrive at the interpretation urged by Respondent Parents by resorting to the pragmatic principle of interpretation, we are of the view that we will be totally encroaching upon the legislative functions of the legislature. The learned counsel for the Respondents may be justified in contending that the legislative enactment which provides a right to appeal only to the management and not to the parents is discriminatory and in violation of Article 14 - while entertaining the Petition of the Petitioners raising basic issue as to the tenability of the appeal at the instance of individual parents, it will not be permissible to consider challenge of the Respondents - the Respondent No. 1 has erred in entertaining the grievance on behalf of the individual parents. The dispute with r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... its that the DFRC is the tribunal constituted under the provisions of said Act. It is submitted that a tribunal of a limited jurisdiction constituted under the provisions of a statute can exercise the powers only within the parameters as laid down by the statute. It is submitted that the tribunal cannot assume jurisdiction, which is not vested in it under the provisions of the statute. Shri Samdhani, therefore, submits that the impugned order which is passed by the DFRC in a proceeding initiated at the instance of the individual parents is not sustainable in law and the orders passed therein are liable to be quashed and set aside. Shri Samdhani further relying on the well settled principle laid down by the Privy Council in the case of Nazir Ahmad V. Kind-Emperor, which has been consistently followed submits that: when act is required to be done in particular manner, it shall be done in that manner or not at all . 6. It is, therefore, submitted that the jurisdiction exercised by the DFRC has been exercised in a manner which is inconsistent with the provisions of the statute and, therefore, not sustainable in law. 7. Smt. Anubha Sahai and Shri Siddharth Sharma both submit t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 3 - Deputy Director of Education vide letter dated 2nd June 2016 informed the Petitioners that upon inquiry into allegations made regarding increase in fees, allegations were found to be without substance. 11. However, it appears that subsequently, the Respondent No. 1 on the basis of the complaints made by the Respondent Nos. 4 5 issued a notice to the Petitioners on 5th May 2017, vide which the complainants as well as the present Petitioners were directed to remain present for the hearing on 16th May 2017. Both the parties were also directed to produce relevant documents before the committee. It appears that thereafter the Respondent No. 1 heard the Petitioners as well as the Respondents Nos. 4 5 on 5th May 2017 and 16th May 2017. Thereafter the order impugned herein came to be passed on 7th June 2017, thereby directing the Petitioner to form Parents Teachers Association (hereinafter referred as PTA ) and EPTA strictly in accordance with Section 4 of the Act, 2011 within 45 days of the order and further directing that subsequent thereto the management shall put up its proposal for fee hike in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 2011. It was further directed that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... once again; (x) deposit as security amount or amount payable for any curricular or co-curricular item as may be prescribed; Sections 3, 4 6 read thus:- Section 3 No school itself or on its behalf shall collect any fee in excess of the fee fixed or approved under this Act. Section 4(1)(a) Every private school shall constitute the Parent-Teachers Association. (b) The Parent-Teachers Association shall be formed by the head of the school within thirty days from the beginning of each academic year. Parent of every student in the school shall be a member of the Parent-Teachers Association and an annual amount of rupees fifty, in case of urban area and rupees twenty, in case of rural area, shall be collected from each member of such Association. (c) On formation of the Parent-Teachers Association, for giving representation to every Standard, a lottery shall be conducted by drawing a lot of the willing parents of each Standard to constitute the Executive Committee and notice of one week before such lottery shall be given to the members of the Parent-Teachers Association. (2)(a) The Executive Committee shall consist of,- (i) Chairperson - Principal or Head Mast ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... all the relevant factors laid down under section 9, the Executive Committee shall approve the fees within a period of thirty days from the date of receipt of the details of the proposed fee and the record under sub-section (2) and communicate the details of the fee so approved in writing to the management forthwith. The details of the fee so approved by the Executive Committee shall be displayed on the notice board in Marathi, English and in the respective medium of school, and if such school has its own website, it shall be displayed on the same, and it shall be binding for two academic years. (4) If the Executive Committee fails to decide the fees within the period specified in sub-section (3), the management shall immediately refer the matter to the Divisional Fee Regulatory Committee for its decision under intimation to the Executive Committee in such manner as may be prescribed. During the pendency of the reference, the management of school shall be at liberty to collect the fee of the previous academic year plus fifteen per cent increase in such fee till the final decision of the Divisional Fee Regulatory Committee. (5) If the difference between the fees decided by the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... that, where the Chairperson of the Revision Committee is, by reason of absence or otherwise, unable to act as a Chairperson of the Selection Committee, the Chairperson acting as such under the proviso to sub-section (2) of Section 11 shall act as a Chairperson. Sections 9 10 of the said Act read thus:- Section 9(1) The following factors shall be considered while deciding the fee leviable by the school, namely:- (a) the location of the school; (b) the infrastructure made available to the students for the qualitative education, the facilities provided and as mentioned in the prospectus or website of the school; (c) the educational standard of the school as the State Government or the competent authority may prescribe; (d) the expenditure on administration and maintenance; (e) the excess fund generated from on-resident Indians, as a part of charity by the management and contribution by the Government for providing fee-ship in fee or for other items under various Government schemes given to the school for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and Vimukta Jatis and Nomadic Tribes students; (f) qualified teaching and non-teaching staff as per the norms and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... re it for two academic years. It shall not be called in question in any civil Court except by way of an appeal before the Revision Committee constituted under this Act. (5) At the time of resolving the dispute, the Divisional Fee Regulatory Committee shall not grant any interim stay to the fee determined by the school management. ON decision in appeal or reference, the Divisional Fee Regulatory Committee may pass appropriate orders for refund the excess fee to such student, the Divisional Fee Regulatory Committee shall proceed to recover such excess fee from the management as an arrears of land revenue and pay the same to such student. (6) The Divisional Fee Regulatory Committee shall on determining the fee leviable by a private school, communicate its decision to the parties concerned. (7) The Divisional Fee Regulatory Committee shall indicate the different heads under which the fee shall be levied. (8) The orders passed by the Divisional Fee Regulatory Committee shall be binding on the private school for two academic years. At the end of the said period, the private school shall be at liberty to propose changes in its fee structure by following the procedure as laid d ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f the Parent Teachers Association shall be for one academic year. Clause (f) requires that the Parent - Teachers Association shall have a general meeting at least once before the 15th August of every year. 15. Section 6 of the said Act is a most relevant provision, upon interpretation of which provision, the fate of the present Petition will have to be decided. Sub-Section (1) of Section 6 provides that, the Management of the private un-aided schools and permanently un-aided schools shall be competent to propose the fees in such schools. Sub-Section (2) requires that, on the formation of the Executive Committee, the management of the school shall submit details of the proposed fee along with a relevant record to the Executive Committee for its approval at least six months before the commencement of next academic year. While giving approval the Executive Committee is also empowered to decide amount of fee afresh. Sub-Section (3) of Section 6 requires that after considering the relevant factors, which are laid down in Section 9, the Executive Committee shall approve the fees within a period of 30 days from the date of receipt of details of the proposed fee and the record as provid ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... its website if such school has its own website. 19. Section 7 enable the management or Executive Committee which is aggrieved by decision of the DFRC to prefer a further appeal before the DFRC in such manner as prescribed. This section also deals with the constitution of the DFRC, since there is no dispute regarding the same, reference to the same would not be necessary. 20. Section 8 deals with the term of office of Chairperson and other members of the DFRC and therefore, reference to the same is also not necessary in the present lis. Section 9 is important section in as much as it lays down guidelines for determining the fee leviable by a school. It requires various factors like, location of the school, infrastructure made available to the students for the qualitative education and the facilities, the educational standard of the school, the expenditure on the administration and maintenance, the excess fund generated from non resident Indians, the contribution by the government for providing free-ship in case of backward class candidates, qualified teaching and non teaching staff as per the norms and their salary components, reasonable amount for yearly salary increments and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in itself. It provides as to in what manner the fees will be first determined by the management and thereafter approved by the Executive Committee, which has to be constituted as per provisions of the Act, what would be the effect of the difference in fees as approved by the management and approved by the Executive Committee. It provides a remedy to the management to approach DFRC in case the Executive Committee fails to decide the matter within the period prescribed in sub-section (3) of Section 6. Sub-Section (5) mandates the management to accept the approval by the Executive Committee, if the difference between the proposal of the management and decision of the Executive Committee is not more than 15%. Only if the difference is more than 15%, the management is entitled to prefer an appeal to the DFRC. A further appeal is provided under sub-section (7) of Section 6 either to the management or to the Executive Committee to approach the Revision Committee, if either the management or the Executive Committee are aggrieved with the decision taken by the Divisional Committee. 23. We may gainfully refer to the observations of the Privy Council in the celebrated case of Nazir Ahmad V ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... disputedly, DFRC is a creation of the said Act and at the most can be construed to be a statutory tribunal constituted under the said enactment. It will be relevant to mention the observations of the Their Lordships of the Apex Court in the case of Vatticherukuru Village Panchayat Vs. Nori Venkatarama Deekshithulu Ors. 1991 Supp (2) Supreme Court Cases 228 which read thus:- 23. The jurisdiction of a Tribunal created under statute may depend upon the fulfillment of some condition precedent or upon existence of some particular fact. Such a fact is collateral to the actual matter which the Tribunal has to try and the determination whether it existed or not is logically temporary prior to the determination of the actual question which the Tribunal has to consider. At the inception of an enquiry by a Tribunal of limited jurisdiction, when a challenge is made to its jurisdiction, the Tribunal has to consider as the collateral fact whether it would act or not and for that purpose to arrive at some decision as to whether it has jurisdiction or not. There may be Tribunal which by virtue of the law constituting it has the power to determine finally, even the preliminary facts on which t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ieved by decision of Divisional Committee. It could thus be seen that the perusal of the scheme would reveal that the statute does not provide for initiation of proceedings before DFRC, at the behest of individual parents. 26. No doubt that, the learned counsel for Respondents are contending that in view of powers under Section 10, all questions between the school management and PTA regarding the fee are to be determined by the DFRC. The learned counsel urged us to accept the said interpretation by placing reliance on preamble of the Act. No doubt that, Sub-Section 1 of Section 10 provide that powers and functions of DFRC shall be to adjudicate the dispute between the school management and the PTA regarding fee to be charged by the school management from the students. However, a particular sections of statute cannot be read in isolation. While considering the provisions of law, the Court will have to take into consideration various provisions of the statute and apply the principle of harmonious construction. 27. The other principal that we are required to take into consideration is the first principal of interpretation. That is of plain and literal construction. Only when the ..... 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