The Bombay High Court on Thursday said the endeavour of schools across Maharashtra in the present Covid-19 pandemic situation should be to amicably settle the fee-related issues with parents instead of debarring students from attending online classes and turning it into a legal battle.

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar, which raised concerns over students being debarred from attending online school over non-payment of fees and claimed that schools cannot claim fees for facilities that are not being used by students during the pandemic.