Civil contempt requires willful disobedience of a clear court order, and the burden to establish this disobedience lies with the petitioners, which was not satisfied in this case.

JUDGMENT :

VIKRAM AGGARWAL, J.

The present petition, preferred under Section 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 (for short ‘the 1971 Act’) has been filed alleging willful disobedience of order dated 15.12.2017 passed in CWP No.27659 of 2017.

2. CWP No. 27659 of 2017 was instituted by the DPSG Parents Association (DPSG is the Parents Association of Students Studying in Delhi Public School, Ghaziabad) against the State of Haryana. Challenge was laid to an order passed by the Additional Chief Secretary, wherein it was held that Form-VI which had been submitted by the respondent-School (giving justification for increase in fee) had to be considered. The Bench was considering two writ petitions out of which one was CWP No.27659 of 2017 and the other was CWP No.20323 of 2017 where the petitioners, who were parents of children studying in the same school had raised a dispute with regard to the fees to be claimed by the school, which the petitioners termed to be excessive.

3. The writ petitions were disposed of on 15.12.2017. The operative part of the order reads as under:-

“In the circumstances pointed out above. I find myself facing opinion, the same situation which confronted the Division Bench. In my considered opinion, the option before the Court is either to examine the issue itself or to consider some alternative. In my opinion it would be appropriate if the Additional Chief Secretary (Education), Haryana constitutes a committee which would go into the issue of the fees which are being demanded by the respondent-Schools (for the period after the academic session 2013-2014) till such time as the Govt. puts into place an amended Rule as has been submitted before me. Till the time the Committee decides the issue of justification the petitioners will pay the fees demanded by the respondent- Schools.

As regards the arrears which are due from 2014-15 onwards, the same will be cleared on or before 28.02.2018. Both the schools shall file undertakings (by the head of the Body which governs them) to the effect that in case the Committee now to be appointed determines that any fees which have been obtained by them was excessive and un- justified they would be liable to refund the excess money which they have collected and would have no objection if the property of the institution has to be sold for that purpose. These undertakings be filed on or before 22.12.2017 with copy to the counsel for the petitioners. The Additional Chief Secretary (Education), Haryana would constitute the Committee on or before 31.12.2017 and the Committee would furnish its report on or before 28.02.2018. It is made clear that the Committee which is now to be constituted would not be bound by any order which was passed earlier.

In CWP No.20323 of 2017, learned counsel are agreed that the petition qua petitioners No.3, 12, 15, 16, 23, 29, 32, 33, 38, 45, 49 and 50 be dismissed.

As soon as the petitioners deposit the current quarter fees of 2017-2018 any order of rustication would cease to be operative.

Both the petitions stand disposed of.

A copy of this order be given to the learned counsel for the parties under the signatures of the Bench Secretary.

Since the main cases have been decided, the pending civil miscellaneous application, if any, also stand disposed of.”

4. Vide order dated 20.02.2018 (Annexure P-3), the names of students were struck-off from the School Rolls w.e.f., 20.02.2018 on account of the School fee for all four quarters since April, 2017 not having been paid. This led to the filing of the instant contempt petition.

5. The contempt petition has been opp