The Madras high court on Friday held that CBSE and ICSE schools are private schools and the provisions of Tamil Nadu Schools (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act, 2009, are applicable to them.
A division bench of Justices R. Banumathi and R. Subbiah dismissed a batch of 23 petitions from CBSE and ICSE schools, which challenged the applicability of Tamil Nadu Schools (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act 2009 to them.
“Under section 7 of Tamil Nadu Schools (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act, the Schools Fee Determination Committee has the power to determine the fee and verify whether the fee collected by the CBSE and ICSE schools is commensurate with the facilities provided by the school,” said the bench.
The aim of the Tamil Nadu Schools Fee Act was to regulate the collection of fee by schools in the state. Excluding the CBSE and ICSE schools from the ambit of the Act would defeat this aim, the bench said.
There is no Central Act or other statutory body to regulate CBSE schools, the bench said.