Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Principal bench of MP High Court at Jabalpur on Thursday rejected private schools' directors' plea of stay on arrest in connection with fee scam. Justice Vidhal Dhagat fixed July 1 as next date of hearing.
FIRs were registered against 11 private schools and 51 individuals involved in case under sections 409, 420, 467, 468, and 120-B of the IPC.
Around 51 people were named as accused, including management executives of 30 schools, five book distributors, and 16 publishers.
On May 28, officials from district administration and police in Jabalpur announced arrest of 21 individuals, including private school owners, book publishers, and printers, in connection with fee scam amounting to nearly Rs 240 crore. The administration later imposed a fine of Rs 22 lakh on the accused school owners.
The investigation conducted on instruction of collector Deepak Saxena, revealed that private schools were increasing fees without adhering to the Madhya Pradesh Private Schools Fees Regulation Act. Additionally, school owners were compelling parents to purchase books exclusively from certain shops. The district administration has so far made the accused school owners refund approximately Rs 81 crore to numerous parents who were overcharged.
Manish Sharma, activist who was fighting private school affairs, said, 'HC has rejected private schools directors' demand not to arrest and they are ready to cooperate in investigation but justice Vishal Dhagat rejected their appeal.'
