Supreme Court says fees for a whole professional course must be fixed before admission

16 October 2026

The Supreme Court held that fees for the entire duration of a professional course must be notified before admission and should not be altered during the course except in exceptional circumstances.
A bench of Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe said fee revision is permissible only on a fee fixation committee's recommendation, based on estimated expenditure and with a minimum three-year gap, and that committees must recommend well in advance so decisions are taken before admissions begin.
The Court said a student entering a four or five year professional programme should ordinarily know, at the very threshold, the financial liability that the student or the family is undertaking.
Costs rising unexpectedly because of extraordinary economic conditions or statutory changes can justify a narrowly defined revision, but such adjustment must remain an exception and cannot become a substitute for timely assessment and proper institutional planning.
Partly allowing appeals by Dr. B. C. Roy Engineering College and other self-financing colleges, the Court rejected the Calcutta High Court's reasoning on retrospectivity and estoppel and set aside its judgment to that extent; the High Court had confined the revised fee notification to students admitted on or after 16 October 2023 and directed refund or adjustment of the enhanced fees collected.
The West Bengal Higher Education Department had notified a revised fee ceiling of Rs 1,10,000 per annum per student on 16 October 2023, after which the college revised its fees from January 2024 and added a development fee, resulting in a 37.5 per cent increase.