Parents of students Tussles Hutchings High School student I’ve got complaints about Hutchings’ fee hike and donation demands from students’ parents for long. The I-T inquiry will awaken parents to Fee Regulation Act violations when they acquiesce to such demands — Anubha Srivastav, lawyer between parents of students and the management ofand Junior College over fee hikes and capitation fees has become an annual ritual, and the issue is also currently before the Bombay High Court. But this year, for the first time, the school’s demands have come under the scanner of the Income Tax (I-T) department, which has sent out notices to parents to divulge information on donations paid by them.At least 500 parents of children studying at Hutchings schools in Pune, Talegaon and Nagpur have received notices from the deputy commissioner of Income Tax (Exemption), Nagpur, two months ago, seeking information regarding donations given to the trust of the school. Remarkably, parents whose wards have just been admitted to the schools have also been served this notice, whereby they are required to submit copies of their PAN card, income proof and details of funds paid to the trust — Governing Body of the Educational Institutions — that runs the school.According to the notices received, the inquiry pertains to donations taken by the institution since 2011. A search of the school premises in Pune was also conducted by the I-T department on February 18, pursuant to complaints by parent about the donations demanded.Confirming the development, a parent of a Class VIIsaid, “I received a notice from the I-T department to provide all relevant documents, in case we have paid any donation. I also filed information on the entire fee structure and all addition fee paid for infrastructural development,” Another parent, whose child is in the secondary level, pointed out, “The school has been demanding donations against admission for a while now, in the name of infrastructural development.However the playground they claim to be building is not in sight as yet. Asking donations at the time of admission is a violation of the law. We’ve already filed a case in Bombay High Court on the school’s fee hike and capitation fee demands.” He added that the notices have triggered panic among parents.Underscoring the illegality of demanding donations, Anubha Srivastav, a lawyer who works for the rights of parents informed, “I have been receiving complaints about Hutchings’ fee hike and donation demands from parents for long. The inquiry initiated by I-T is good as it will awaken parents to the violation of the Fee Regulation Act, 2011, when they acquiesce to such demands. In fact, such inquiry should be conducted on every trust and the schools they run. Such I-T inquest is not common in the case of schools. However, two years ago a school run by DY Patil came under such a scanner.”Admitting to the I-T survey initiated, a member of the school management said that the department is scrutinising the Governing Body of the Educational Institutions and all the units have come under it. He then tried to shrug it off as a routine process under tax collection initiatives and compliance procedures, insisting that no irregularity has been found though. “It is a trust and the trust has filed our I-T returns. This was verified by cross checking the documents,” claimed Rev C Selvin, manager of the school.

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