New Delhi, June 6 -- The Delhi Public School (DPS) Dwarka on Thursday informed the Delhi high court that it had withdrawn its order expelling 31 students for non-payment of hiked fees - just minutes before the court was to pronounce its verdict in the case. As justice Sachin Datta assembled to deliver his ruling on the parents' plea, the school's counsel submitted that the expulsion order had been withdrawn. The students' names had been reinstated, subject to parents paying fees in line with an earlier order by the high court on May 16. That order directed students to pay 50% of the increased fees for the 2024-25 session, pending a final decision by the UT's department of education (DoE). The school's lawyer also informed the bench that an affidavit to that effect had already been filed earlier in the week. Taking note of the submission, justice Datta noted that the immediate controversy had become moot. However, the bench laid down clear procedural safeguards for any future actions under the Delhi School Education Rules, 1973. The school must issue prior communication specifying the proposed date for striking a student off the rolls and must give reasonable opportunity to the students or their guardians to show cause against such action, it directed. On Thursday, the court's judgment, released shortly after the matter was closed, expressed "dismay" over the school's engagement of "bouncers" to physically block students from entering the premises and called this "a reprehensible practice" that has "no place in an institute of learning." The judgment said the psychological impact of such coercive tactics, noting: "Public shaming/intimidation of a student on account of financial default, especially through force or coercive action, not only constitutes mental harassment but also undermines the psychological well-being and self-worth of a child. The use of 'bouncers' fosters a climate of fear, humiliation and exclusion that is incompatible with the fundamental ethos of a school." It underlined the special status of educational institutions, saying while schools charge fees to maintain infrastructure and staff, they "cannot be equated with a pure commercial establishment."...