NEWS: Law Students went to Kerala High Court Against Taking of Fees by NUALS for Facilities not used by them During Lockdown Period

By Legal Wires 7 Minutes Read

The High Court of Kerala has been accosted by 28 Law Students of NUALS, i.e., National University of Advanced Legal Studies against the assortment of fees for services that are not being used by the students during the phase of lockdown. A letter has been sent to the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, the State’s CM & other related authorities asking for the grant of fee aid for students of the NUALS in context of the COVID-19 pandemic & subsequent financial problems.

The letter, sent by the students of NUALS, goals out that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the financial system has taken a hit & the financial situation of many families of NUALS students has deteriorated.

The letter includes that in such a position, students & their families would be put in a perilous situation if the full fees are to be paid in the next academic year as an only lump total.

The students include that even as per a Government order dated April 13, the University must free students from hostel rental & facilities charges for the phase between March 23-May 15.

The letter includes that the application for fee relief is not meant to prejudice the fee that is to be applied by the University to reimburse the salary & other wages to teaching & non-teaching organization.

However, since a substantial portion of regular classes have not been performed and the syllabus directive has been met mostly through assignments & online projects, the NUALS Students’ Council has appealed for relief of 5% under the chief of tuition payment for the academic year 2020-21.

The plea by the NUALS students-

The plea pursues instructions to NUALS by the Court instructing that other than tuition payment, NUALS is not permitted to collect the fee for facilities that are not being used by the students due to the end of campus & the manner of classes online by the college specialists because of the Covid-19 contagion.

University’s Fee Demand-

The University has demanded instructions to the Students to pay a fee which comprises Library Fee, Info System Capability Fee, Electricity Charges, Students’ Wellbeing Fund, Students’ Council Fee, Sporting & Games Fee, Moot Court Payment, Medical, Gym, Fitness Fee, Paper Fee, Bus fee and Discussion Society Fee.

Contentions by students of NUALS-

The students made arguments that except tuition fee, the dithering on the part of the University in awarding waiver of fee for the services which are not being used by them goes against the reasonable expectation of the petitioners & is illogical and illegal.

BCI Notice to aid the plea-

The students also trusted on a BCI circular where all the law colleges in the nation were directed to consider allowing fee concession because of the savings on electricity charges & maintenance of substructure which the colleges would have then had to bear when bodily classes were conducted & understandingly consider the appeal made by the students concerning fee reduction.

Chief Justice Favors Students’ Dilemma-

In the writ petition logged through M/s. Ninan and Mathew lawyers, the students voiced that the Chief Justice of the High Court of Kerala, who is the President/Chancellor of NUALS, had instructed the University to take into account the issue created by the student’s council. But the university management without favorable regard for fee reduction asserted that the fee should be reimbursed.

The students have, hence, asked the concerned authorities to contemplate granting the following methods of fee relief, i.e.

Make conditions for disbursement of the fee in two installments for the academic year 2020-21. Semester-wise fees may be imposed so that families are not overloaded with the lump-sum total.
25% deduction of fee under the subsequent heads for the academic year 2020-21: Electricity payments, Students’ Welfare fund, Sports Activities, and Matches fee, Medical/Gym/Fitness cost, Transport fee, Discussing Society fee, Moot Court fee & Various fee.
The rest NUALS Students’ Council Fund for the academic year 2019-20 may be taken forward to the following year’s Students’ Council trust.
5% of the fee accumulated under the chief of tuition fee may be proportionately lowered from the payment under the same supervisor for the academic year 2020-21.
The hostel rental and hostel facilities charges imposed from the students for the time mentioned in the State Government Order mentioned above may be refunded or carried forward to the following academic year. Students who opt-out of the hostel in the later academic year may be refunded that amount.
The said reliefs may also be manifested in the fees for NRI, NRI funded & Foreign National students appropriately for the academic year 2020-21.

Lately, students of RGNUL, Patiala, had also made a complaint about fee aid to the higher authorities of the State.