School drops donation demand

pune: the prestigious mercedes-benz international school, which was dragged to court over its demand for rs 2 lakh from a student towards a “building donation fund�, has withdrawn the demand. in a written submission to the court of civil judge senior division s.n.karyakarte on friday, the school also agreed to allow the student, 16-year old neshta nanda, to continue attending classes “unconditionally�.neshta’s father, tatwanand nanda, told this newspaper that he has agreed to withdraw the civil suit filed in the court on january 18. the suit pointed out that under the maharashtra educational institutions (prohibition of capitation fee) act, 1987, capitation fees are illegal. “neshta has been taken back by the school. both parties have decided to settle the issue,� r.b. pendse, school secretary and company secretary of daimler chrysler india limited, told this newspaper. asked whether the school would return the rs 2 lakh collected from the other 52 students of the school, pendse said that that issue “has to be sorted out�. j. ziegler, president of the school, was not available for comment. school principal john bastable had no comments to offer when contacted and said the matter was being handled by pendse.