CHENNAI : The Madras High Court has rapped the management of Saveetha University, which ran a law school on EVR Periyar Salai (Poonamallee High Road) at Velappanchavadi, near Chennai, for admitting students when a Delhi High Court order against doing so was in force. Justice S Vaidyanathan, who pulled up the management, directed the university to return all the original documents and the fees collected from students. Though this was a fit case for imposing heavy costs on the university, payable to the students, who had joined after an interim order of the Delhi High Court dated May 30, 2017, the judge said that he was refraining from doing so for the present. If any issue was taken by the affected students or parents before the appropriate court (Delhi High Court), it would be for that court to consider the plea to punish the management, the judge said.
The judge was disposing of a batch of writ petitions from K A Robert James and eight others praying for a direction to the State government to take appropriate action against the university for running the law course without getting a no objection certificate (NOC) from it and recognition from Bar Council of India (BCI). The university, however, obtained recognition from BCI, later.
The judge noted that since some of the students who had already joined the course and now were in the fourth year and who had joined prior to the interim order of the Delhi High Court, would be entitled to refund of the proportionate fees as per the norms/guidelines of UGC and if any excess sum is lying with the university, that will also have to be refunded. If the entire course fee for five years had not been received and if fees had been collected only for the respective academic years, the certificates alone need to be returned. The university could not demand fees for the academic year in which the students had not continued their study.
The UGC guidelines alone were to be followed with regard to refund of fees. If any amount(s) was collected under various heads such as hostel fees and transport charges from students who had joined after the interim order, then that had to be refunded. All the original certificates collected by the university should be returned to students.As far as the first year students were concerned, the entire fees should be refunded to them. If not, the same would fetch 12 per cent interest from the date of payment made to the college/university till the actual sum is disbursed to them, the judge said.