The Supreme Court has ruled that students in self-financing professional institutions cannot be made to pay higher fees midway through their course.
A Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe held that revision is permissible only in exceptional situations, such as an unforeseen rise in expenditure.
What was the dispute?
The ruling arose from an appeal by Dr BC Roy Engineering College against the State of West Bengal.
On 16 October 2023, the State notified a revised fee ceiling for private self-financing engineering, pharmacy and architecture colleges, with annual tuition capped at Rs 1.10 lakh. The revision came after a gap of seven years, but only after admissions for the 2023-27 BTech batch had concluded.
In December 2023, the college raised the batch’s semester tuition and introduced a development fee, an overall increase of about 37.5% from the second semester. It relied on a prospectus clause stating that fees could change in line with government decisions.
A single judge of the Calcutta High Court dismissed the students’ challenge to the fee hike, but a Division Bench ruled that the revised fees applied only to students admitted on or after the notification date, and directed refunds or adjustments.
Supreme Court’s verdict
The Apex Court observed that professional education is a major financial commitment for families, many of whom depend on savings or educational loans.
A student entering a four- or five-year programme, it said, should know at the outset what liability the family is assuming.
The SC Bench held that fee fixation authorities must notify the fee for the entire course before admission. It drew support from its earlier decisions, the AICTE Regulations and the National Education Policy, 2020.
The Court, however, did not treat fees as incapable of adjustment. Extraordinary economic conditions, statutory changes or other unforeseeable events may justify a narrowly defined mechanism for revision.
Any such adjustment, however, must remain an exception and cannot replace timely assessment and proper institutional planning.