The director of education has ordered the education inspector of Mumbai south zone to file an FIR against the St. Mary’s High School at Mazgaon under the Anti-Capitation Fee Act of 1987. This is owing to the school’s non-compliance towards returning the excess fees it had collected from students.
The filing of the FIR could result in the arrest of the principal and members of the management who approved the collection of excess fees.
While speaking about the order, Dr Shridhar Salunkhe, director, school education said, “The school has failed to follow the order of the department to refund the excess fees it has collected from the students in the stipulated time frame of one month.”
He added, “As per the Anti-Capitation Fee Act, any person found guilty of collecting capitation fees is liable for criminal prosecution and hence, I have asked the education inspector of the zone to register an FIR with the local police station.”
The school had run into trouble last year after a parent complained to the education department about the lack of facilities in the school despite excess fees being collected from parents in the name of development charges.
The school education department had issued a showcause notice to the school, and after conducting an inspection had found that there was lack of facilities on each floor.
However, the matter came to a boil, when the auditor general’s audit report indicated that the school had collected an excess of `1.45 crore from the students.
Based on the report, the department issued an order instructing the school to refund the excess amount to the parents within a month. But, the school did not comply with the order and filed a petition against the department in the Bombay high court.
When asked about the new development, Father Baptist Pinto said he had not received any communication from the department or the police.