By Matters India Reporter
Jabalpur, July 12, 2024: The Madhya Pradesh High Court on July 12 denied bail to 14 people, including a Protestant bishop and a Catholic priest, accused in the school fees scam.
The Jabalpur-based court, however, granted bail to a female school principal and anticipatory bail to another Catholic priest, Father Sibi Joseph.
They are among the 51 people associated with 11 private schools and those selling textbooks to these schools in the Jabalpur district of the central Indian state accused of charging exorbitant school fees and selling textbooks with much higher than the market price.
The police had arrested 22 persons, including those denied bail on May 27, and others are still at large.
A single bench of Justice Maninder S Bhatti turned down the bail applications of the 14 people such as Bishop Ajay Umesh Kumar James of Jabalpur diocese of the Church of North India (CNI), Father Abraham Thazhathedathu of Jabalpur Catholic diocese and three pastors.
The court, while granting bail to Soma George, principal of a Catholic diocesan school, gave her the benefit of doubt of not being party to the decision-making body of the school management.
Others, according to the court, were parties to decision making bodies of their schools, as they were principal, manager or other offices.
“The allegations are against the management of the school and though some of the applicants are claiming that they are working as principals but as per the records, they are members of the management society and are in management committee running educational institutions, therefore, prima facie they are connected with the affairs of the school management,” said the court’s order.
“Thus, looking at the nature of allegations against the applicant, this court is not inclined to release/enlarge the applicants on bail. Accordingly, the applications are hereby dismissed,” it added.
The court also noted that the matter is “at investigation stage and the first information reports and the enquiry reports submitted by the committee prima facie reflect allegations against the applicants as regards commission of offence.”
The police report said the schools violated the provisions of Madhya Pradesh Niji Vidyalaya (Fees Tatha Sambandhit Vishayon Ka Viniyaman) Adhiniyam, 2017, a law to regulate fees in private schools.
Under this law, a private school management requires the permission of the district collector for an annual fee hike above 10 percent and the state government approval for a hike of 15 percent and above. But no permission is required for a private school to hike fees up to 5 percent on its own.
Father Davis George, the vicar general of the Jabalpur Catholic diocese, denied the allegation against the diocesan schools saying, “We have complied with the norms and no extra fee charged from the students.”
The Jabalpur police arrested Bishop James on May 27 along with the principals of five Church-managed schools and two pastors for allegedly charging “exorbitant fees” from students in their schools.
The same day the police also arrested Father Abraham Thazhathedathu, priest of the Jabalpur Catholic diocese, a woman school principal and others from two Catholic schools.
The police action was restricted to only 11 schools – seven of them managed by Christians. The district has 1,037 registered private schools.