IMPORTANT POINT
In a matter alleging deficiencies in the education imparted to the students, a Consumer Forum would not be an appropriate forum and the remedy available to the aggrieved person would be to approach a Civil Court.—Para 6

V.K. Jain, Presiding Member—The complainants/respondents took admission in PGPM and MBA Programme of Muenchen International Business School which is stated to be run by Muenchen Education Society. As per the prospectus issued by the School, International Corporate Study Programme was to be a part of their curriculum and they were to be taken to Germany for a tour of 35 days duration, after which certificate of having successfully passed International Corporate Study Programme was to be given to them. The case of the complainants is that International Corporate Study Programme (ICSP) was not conducted by the petitioner despite they having charged fee of Rs.1,20,000/- per year, the total amount charged from them being Rs.2,40,000/- for two years. Out of it, Rs.22,000/- are stated to have been returned to some of them. This is also their case that though they were promised campus placement, no company came to their campus for campus interviews. This is also their case that MBA degrees were not awarded to them and neither the hostel deposit nor the caution money were refunded to them. Alleging deficiencies in the educational services provided to them by the petitioners, they approached the concerned District Forum by way of a composite Consumer Complaint seeking refund of the fee etc. paid by them to the petitioners alongwith compensation.

2. The complaint was contested only by Professor D.S. Kadam which was OP No.5 in the complaint and a Director of the School. He claimed that the School was a trust and he had resigned from the School in September 2010.

3. The District Forum having allowed the complaint, the petitioners approached the concerned State Commission by way of separate appeals. The said appeals having been dismissed, they are before this Commission by way of these Revision Petitions.

4. It would be seen from the case set out in the Consumer Complaint that the primary grievance of the complainants is in respect of the education related matters such matters being ICSP, campus placement and MBA degrees. The question as to whether such matters come within the purview of Consumer Protection Act and whether a Consumer Complaint alleging deficiency in relation to such matters can be maintained or not has come up for consideration of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in several decisions including Bihar School Examination Board Vs. Suresh Prasad Sinha, (2009) 8 SCC 483; Maharshi Dayanand University Vs. Surjeet Kaur (2010) 11 SCC 159 and P.T. Koshy & Anr. Vs. Ellen Charitable Trust & Ors., SLP (C) No.22532 of 2012 decided on 09.08.2012.

5. The decision of this Commission in Bihar School Examination Board (supra), to the extent it is referred in Maharshi Dayanand University (supra), reads as under:—

“11. The Board is a statutory authority established under the Bihar School Examination Board Act, 1952. The function of the Board is to conduct school examinations. This statutory function involves holding periodical examinations, evaluating the answer scripts, declaring the results and issuing certificates. The process of holding examinations, evaluating answer scripts, declaring results and issuing certificates are different stages of a single statutory non-commercial function. It is not possible to divide this function as partly statutory and partly administrative.

12. When the Examination Board conducts an examination in discharge of its statutory function, it does not offer its services” to any candidate. Nor does a student who participates in the examination conducted by the Board, hires or avails of any service from the Board for a consideration. On the other hand, a candidate who participates in the examination conducted by the Board, is a person who has undergone a course of study and who requests the Board to test him as to whether he has imbibed sufficient knowledge to be fit to be declared as having successfully completed the said course of education; and if so, determine his position or rank or competence vis-a-vis