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After the pandemic forced the cancellation of Class 10 and 12 exams, the Bombay High Court ordered the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education's chairman to decide whether to refund fees collected. As soon as possible, but no later than four weeks after the order was served, Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni ordered that the Board's Chairman make a decision on the representation. Judges said they hoped the chairman would issue an order reimbursing students for all or part of their examination fees should he find their request "substantive." They also stated that if the Chairman cannot accept the request, the petitioner, Pratapsing Chopadar, a retired principal from Maharashtra's Sangli district, will receive a reasoned order. Chopadar sought the orders as part of a public interest lawsuit in which he asked the Board to refund students' examination fees. He had asked for the equivalent amount to be deposited in the Court while the PIL was being heard. Chopadar stated in his letter to the Education Board that despite obstacles, parents deposited exam fees for their children for the Class 10 and Class 12 examinations.
As a result, the Maharashtra Education Board received crores of rupees for the Secondary School Certificate Examination (Class 10) and the Higher Secondary examination (Class 12). Chopadar went on to say that the Board had recovered Rs. 420 for the SSC exam and Rs. 520 for the HSC exam. He assured the Court that he had no personal stake in the matter, but that the proceedings were brought "to help the poor parents for whom the meager examination fees might have been an ordeal." Chopadar's lawyer, Manoj Shirsat, told the Court that because figures for the current academic year were unavailable, the previous year's figures were used instead. About 17,65,829 students had registered for the Class 10 examination, and 15,07,314 students had registered for the Class 12 examination, which will be held in 2020, he told the Court. Shirsat claimed the Board had collected around Rs 150 crore from students of both examinations after calculating the number of fees per student. In light of the state government's decision, Shirsat said, the Board was required to refund fees. While Chopadar sent him a letter in June of 2021, Shirsat said he had not heard back from them, which prompted him to file a lawsuit in the High Court.
With directions to serve a copy of the order on the Chairman of the Board of Directors, the Bench dismissed the PIL as there was no reason to keep the matter pending.
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