Delhi HC to hear on Apr 18 petitions by pvt schools against fee regulation law

The Delhi High Court on Monday said it will hear on April 18 petitions by several private schools challenging the Delhi government’s latest fee regulation law.

A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said it wanted to “conclude the matter in one go” and directed the listing of petitions for hearing on a Saturday.

As the counsel for the Delhi government submitted that there was urgency in the matter because certain schools were removing students due to non-payment of fees, the court observed that it had already deferred the implementation of the mandate to private schools to constitute a ‘school-level fee regulation committee’ for the upcoming academic session.

It nonetheless said that it would decide the petitions “at the earliest”.

“List when no other matter is listed. List the case for hearing on April 18,” the bench said.

The high court holds court on the first and third Saturday every month.

The government counsel also alleged that certain schools were hiking the school fee in violation of judicial orders.

The court said the government could institute a case for contempt in such cases.

Several associations of schools, such as Action Committee Unaided Recognised Private Schools and Forum of Minority Schools, have assailed the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Act, 2025, alleging it is malafide, biased, and arbitrary and malicious in nature.

The Act was notified on August 14, 2025, and came into force on December 10 of that year.

The plea by Action Committee Unaided Recognised Private Schools, filed by advocate Kamal Gupta, contended that the law violated the fundamental rights of the managements of private schools in Delhi and was enacted without any application of mind.

Opposing the petitions, the Delhi government has said the right to administer educational institutions does not include the right to profiteer or charge a capitation fee, and the Act was enacted to curb commercialisation and profiteering in education, in accordance with the National Education Policy, 2020.

On February 28, the high court deferred the implementation of the Delhi government’s mandate to private schools to constitute a ‘school-level fee regulation committee’ for the upcoming academic session.

Putting a February 1 notification of the Delhi government on the constitution of SLFRC in abeyance, the court said the schools shall be entitled to collect the same fees for the academic year 2026- 2027 as they did in the previous academic year.

Under the new framework, every private school has to constitute an SLFRC. This committee will include representatives from the school management, the principal, three teachers, five parents and one nominee from the DoE. Members would be selected through a lottery system in the presence of observers to maintain transparency.

The SLFRC will examine fee proposals submitted by school managements and decide within 30 days.

The Act was to be implemented through a two-tier mechanism comprising school-level committees and district-level appellate bodies.