Courts Have Limited Jurisdiction, No Expertise In Matters Of Determination Of Fees: Madras HC [Read Order]

The Single Bench of Justice N. Anand Venkatesh observed that the University does not have the power to fix/ waive fees and the same is decided by the State Government. Further, he remarked that the Court does not have the expertise to determine fees.

It said,

"This Court is aware of the fact that there is a very limited jurisdiction vested with this Court when it comes to fixation of fees. Fees is fixed after taking in to consideration a lot of factors and this Court is not an expert to sit over in judgments and re-determine the fees. Any such exercise will amount to over stretching the jurisdiction under Article 226 of Constitution of India."

In this backdrop the Court directed that the matter for re-determination of fees be placed before the Government, as any decision taken by the Government in this regard will ultimately bind the University.

The Government has been directed to consider the students' representation and give a solution by way of passing an order, within three weeks. The same can thereafter be placed before the Syndicate, which may pass a resolution and in turn the University can inform the decision to the students.

By adopting this process, the Bench said,

"the interest of all the stakeholders can be ascertained and this Court can thereafter pass a final order in this writ petition."

The Petitioner-students of the Ambedkar Law University had challenged a circular issued by the University, directing them to pay the semester fees in two installments.

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They had contended that since only online classes are being taken by the University, they are liable to pay only Tuition fees. They argued that they are not utilizing the facilities and therefore additional fees charged under ten more heads is not justified, more particularly, considering the financial constraints faced due to the pandemic situation.

The University on the other hand submitted that it had considered the financial constraints faced by the students and that is the reason why the students were asked to pay the fees in two installments. Further, the fees charged under various heads was in the nature of "fixed cost" and it will be incurred by the University whether the facilities are utilized or not.

While the Court has asked the State Government to decide the matter within three weeks, it has extended the deadline for payment of first installment.

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