Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court recently dismissed a plea preferred by Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala against Punjab & Haryana HCs order directing the university to charge only 50% of the hostel rent from students for the COVID period and refunding the remaining amount.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath while dismissing NLUs plea noted that there was absolutely no justification for the university to charge entire hostel rent from students while it had charged only 25% from contractors of the mess, canteens, shops, etc.
Convincing the bench to set aside HCs order, counsel for NLU told the bench that the university did consider students rights and also granted them discounts in fees.
“However, we are in extreme arrears from the government. State is not providing us with any funds,” the counsel also added.
Unconvinced by the submissions, the bench while dismissing the appeal asked counsel to pursue litigation against the government in case of non provision of funds.
Court’s order came in a plea challenging HCs November 21, 2022 ruling wherein bench of Justices Augustine George Masih and Vikram Aggarwal in their order said, “Those were tough times for everyone. The students were out of the hostel rooms not out of choice but out of compulsion. Their belongings were left in the rooms. There was panic and fear all around. Those who did not have secure jobs were suddenly faced with loss of income. While people were trying to make their two ends meet, the burden of fee etc. was putting them under additional pressure. The institutions also suffered because they had to maintain huge buildings, staff etc. If one weighs all these facts, there does not appear to be any justification for charging the entire hostel rent from the students especially when only 25% of the rent had been charged from the contractors of mess, shops, canteens etc,”
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court recently dismissed a plea preferred by Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala against Punjab & Haryana HCs order directing the university to charge only 50% of the hostel rent from students for the COVID period and refunding the remaining amount.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath while dismissing NLUs plea noted that there was absolutely no justification for the university to charge entire hostel rent from students while it had charged only 25% from contractors of the mess, canteens, shops, etc.
Convincing the bench to set aside HCs order, counsel for NLU told the bench that the university did consider students rights and also granted them discounts in fees.
“However, we are in extreme arrears from the government. State is not providing us with any funds,” the counsel also added.
Unconvinced by the submissions, the bench while dismissing the appeal asked counsel to pursue litigation against the government in case of non provision of funds.
Court’s order came in a plea challenging HCs November 21, 2022 ruling wherein bench of Justices Augustine George Masih and Vikram Aggarwal in their order said, “Those were tough times for everyone. The students were out of the hostel rooms not out of choice but out of compulsion. Their belongings were left in the rooms. There was panic and fear all around. Those who did not have secure jobs were suddenly faced with loss of income. While people were trying to make their two ends meet, the burden of fee etc. was putting them under additional pressure. The institutions also suffered because they had to maintain huge buildings, staff etc. If one weighs all these facts, there does not appear to be any justification for charging the entire hostel rent from the students especially when only 25% of the rent had been charged from the contractors of mess, shops, canteens etc,”
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