The court's decision was based on the terms and conditions notified to the petitioner and the inapplicability of the UGC public notice for refund.

Manmohan, J. (Oral)

1. The short issue that arises for consideration in the present case is whether the petitioner is entitled for refund of fee which she had voluntarily paid for seeking admission to the Guru Nanak Institute of Management where she was initially enrolled for the Masters of Computer Application (MCA) Program for the academic year 2010.

2. Learned counsel for the petitioner in support of the prayer for refund of fees, relies upon the judgement of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Shadma Amreen v. Jiwaji University through its Registrar, Gwalior (MP) (Writ Petition No. 2220/10), decided on 13th August, 2010 wherein it has been held as under:-

“5. The respondent-University in its return stated that the case of the petitioner for refund of tuition fee has been considered by the Standing Committee of the Jiwaji University and the Standing Committee refused to refund the fee deposited by the petitioner on the ground that the petitioner made request for refund of fee after attending counselling as per the prospectus of Jiwaji University, Gwalior, if any candidate leaves the course after counselling in that eventuality only caution money would be refunded. The relevant clause of the prospectus is as under:-

“6.1 If any candidate leave the course before the last counselling day the fee will be returned to him /her after deducting 10% of the fees deposited by him/her, but in case he leave any course after the said date only caution money will be refunded.”

6. From the facts of the case, it is clear that the petitioner did not participate in the B.C.A. course although she did take admission in B.C.A. course. Thereafter, the petitioner got a seat in B.E. course in Electronics & Communication in Shriram College of Engineering and Management, Banmore. In the proceedings of the Standing Committee dated 5th November 2009, copy of which has been filed as Annexure R-1, a reference has been made of the order dated 03.07.2008 passed by the Commissioner, Higher Education, Bhopal. It has been mentioned in the order that in the semester system up to 30th June if the student had taken admission in any other professional course then after submitting a certificate in that regard the fee could be refunded after deducting an amount of Rs.100/-. From the aforesaid order issued by the Commissioner, Higher Education, it is clear that the petitioner is entitled to get refund of fee deposited by her for B.C.A. course because she had taken admission in B.E. course in Electronics & Communication in Shriram College of Engineering and Management, which is a professional course. The order issued by the Commissioner, Higher Education, Bhopal, is binding on the respondent-University.

3. On the other hand, learned counsel for the respondent-University relies upon a judgment of this Court in Neha Sharma v. The Vice-Chancellor & Ors 118 (2005) DLT 518 wherein it has been held as under:-

“27. I am therefore, of the considered view that the petitioner is barred by the terms and conditions notified to her in the Information Bulletin. This Information Bulleting was available for sale from 17.4.2000. The petitioner accepted these terms and conditions and submitted her application form.

xxx xxx xxx

29. In the instant case, the Information Bulleting set out the extent and amount of deduction at the time of a refund. The cut-off date has been provided in the Information Bulletin. There is no dispute that the action of the respondents is in accordance with the Information Bulletin. No legally sustainable ground of challenge to the respondents’ action has been made in the facts set out. In view of the findings of the Supreme Court of India in the judgments relied upon, the respondents were entitled to effect the deduction made in terms of the Information Bulleting in the instant case.”

4. In rejoinder, learned counsel for the petitioner states that the judgment of Neha Sharma (supra) has been passed without taking into account the UGC public notice dated 23rd Apr