High Court Issues Notice To Delhi Govt Over Delay In Notifying Fee Hike To Be Charged By Self Financing Private Institutions

An Association of Self Financing Private Institutions in Delhi has moved the Delhi High Court, against the delay caused by Directorate of Higher Education (DHE) in notifying the fee hike recommended by the State Fee Regulatory Committee for a particular set of academic years, thereby affecting the Petitioner's right to carry on its occupation.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Amit Bansal while issuing notice on the plea told the Respondent,

"Look at their difficulty. You are taking so long to decide fees for 3 years. They're not able to realize appropriate fees."

The Chief Justice added,

"Suppose you are travelling in buses and trains. And increased fare is made applicable 3 years later, can you recover from them? From which customer will you recover?"

The matter has been fixed for hearing on November 30.

The plea challenges Section 6(13) of the Delhi Professional Colleges or Institutions Act, 2007, which empowers the Directorate to extend the fees prescribed in previous academic years for a further period.

Alleging that the Respondents have been taking undue advantage and umbrage under this provision, the Petitioner submitted,

"illegality of the Defendant's actions is perpetuated under section 6(13) by notifying the fee recommended by the SFRC for a particular set of years to a completely different set of years for which the SFRC was not even constituted and did not have the material before it in terms of Section 7 of the said Act to recommend the fee structures for those years."

The plea stated that such act of the Respondent is "detrimental to the interest" of the Petitioner who is entitled to charge the hiked fee.

"Respondent by continuing to extend the fee structure for academic years in teeth of the recommendations of SFRC violates the exclusive rights of Petitioner Association to carry on its occupation by establishing and administering educational institutions recognized under Article 19(l)(g) read with Article 21 of the Constitution of India," the plea adds.

The petitioner seeks compliance with the judgment in Shanker Doon v. State of NCT of Delhi (2019) passed by the Division Bench of the High Court particularly, concerning notifying the fee structure for a given set of academic years as recommended by the SFRC before the commencement of the said academic years for which SFRC has recommended the fee structure.

It is their case that for the last couple of years under the garb of Section 6(13), despite constituting an SFRC for a particular set of years, the DHE has neither notified the recommendations for a particular set of years for which the respondent constituted the SFRC nor sent the recommendations back to SFRC for reconsideration. Moreover, time and again, the DHE has misused the ambiguity in Section 6(13) by extending the fee structure for the period for which the SRFC has already been recommended and notified.

"The Respondent has followed a procedure completely dehors and unknown to the Act by extending the fee of previous years (illegally taking umbrage under section 6(13) of the said Act) to the particular set of years for which the SFRC had been constituted and recommended its fee hike," the petition further adds.

The petition is filed through Advocate Namit Suri. Argued by Advocate Sameer Rohtagi.

Case Title: Self-Financing Educational institutions v. Government of Delhi  through Directorate of Higher Education Association (Regd.)