Plea filed in Delhi HC for refund of CBSE fees

NEW DELHI: A plea has been filed in Delhi High Court seeking refund from Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for the classes X and XII board examinations, which were cancelled this year in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.
The plea filed by a lawyer stated that parents paid a fixed amount to the board as examination fee for students to appear in the examinations.
Taking note of the prevailing Covid-19 situation across the country, the boards for Class X were cancelled on April 14, those for Class XII were cancelled on June 1.
Urging the court to intervene so that parents could get refunded, the plea gave a break-up of the examination fee levied and argued that it was meant for expenses incurred by CBSE in conducting a physical examination, such as payment to invigilators, organising examination centres, etc.
Since the examinations had been cancelled, the board did not have to incur any of these expenses, the plea argued, saying that the money should be refunded. It also pointed out that, since lakhs of students were slated to take the two board examinations across the country, the money collected by CBSE ran into crores, which it has kept without any justification.
The plea also wanted CBSE to have a clear refund policy when examinations were cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances or emergencies.