Educational institutions cannot withhold certificates of students over unpaid fees, Madras High Court has ruled in an order expected to dissuade private colleges and universities from victimising students.

A single-judge bench of Justice Anita Sumanth passed the order on March 21 in a case filed by M. Kesavan, a student, against Cheran College of Pharmacy, Coimbatore.

The student had pleaded that the institute had not provided him the original transfer certificate and the mark sheets of Classes X and XII for non-payment of fees. He wanted these documents to take admission to the School of Agriculture and Animal Science, Gandhigram Rural Institute (GRI). The petitioner sought an order to the pharmacy college to return the certificates.

"Today, R1 (pharmacy) college files a memo to the effect that there are indeed pending dues. However, the settled position of law in this regard is that certificates of a student cannot be withheld for arrears of fees as the educational institution can claim no lien over the same,” said the court order.

“Hence mandamus is issued to R1 to return the original Transfer Certificate, Mark sheets of X and XII to the petitioner, as and when he presents himself before the college. Needless to say, liberty is given to College to take measures to recover the monetary outstandings in accordance with law,” the order said.

Ravi Bhardwaj, a lawyer who has fought several cases on issues related to higher education, said the court order iterates the point that students cannot be victimised for non-payment of fees while allowing institutes to recover dues as per law.

“It is a significant ruling. Hundreds of students face this type of problems in different institutions. Every student cannot move the high court or the Supreme Court. There should be a balanced policy to ensure neither the students nor the institute suffer unnecessarily,” Bhardwaj told The Telegraph.

“Withholding certificates due to outstanding fees creates barriers to the education for students. This ruling ensures that financial constraints do not impede students' access to educational opportunities. Every student deserves a fair chance to pursue their studies without discrimination based on financial status,” he said.

Bhardwaj said many students willfully default om fees too. The private educational institutions being self-reliant institutions cannot afford to lose fees, he said. The laid-down procedure of filing a suit for recovery of dues takes three to four years.

He said the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) should bring out rules so that a student is not required to go to Court every time for the same redress.