Parents should bear cost of air conditioning facility in school: Delhi HC

The cost of air-conditioning in school has to be borne by the parents as it is a facility being provided to the students, which is no different from the other charges such as laboratory fee, the Delhi High Court has said.

A bench headed by acting chief justice Manmohan dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) against a private school charging Rs 2,000 per month for the air-conditioning in classes and stated that such financial burden cannot be fastened on the school management alone and parents should be mindful of the facilities and their cost while selecting a school.

The petitioner, whose ward studied in class 9 in the private school, argued that the obligation to provide air-conditioning facilities to the students rests with the management and it should, therefore, be provided by them from their own funds and resources.

Noting that the fee receipt duly records the entry of charges for air-conditioning which is admittedly being provided to the students, the court opined that prima facie there is no irregularity in the charge levied by the school.

"The costs of air-conditioning services provided to the children in the school have to be borne by the parents as it is a facility provided to the children and is no different from the other charges such as laboratory fee and smart class fee levied. The parents, while selecting the school, have to be mindful of the facilities and the cost of the facilities provided to children in school.

"The financial burden of providing such facilities cannot be fastened on the school management alone," the bench, also comprising justice Manmeet PS Arora, said in an order passed on 2 May.

The court observed that the Directorate of Education was also seized of the issue after it received complaints and the petition was not maintainable.

"We are, therefore, not inclined to entertain the present PIL and the same is dismissed," the court concluded.