Mid-Session Fee Hike Cannot Apply To Already-Admitted Students: Calcutta High Court Quashes College's Demand Notice

The Calcutta High Court has held that a mid-session fee hike cannot be imposed on students who had already taken admission on the basis of a previously notified fee structure. A Division Bench of Justices Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Supratim Bhattacharya, while hearing three connected appeals filed by first-year B.Tech students of Dr. B.C. Roy Engineering College, set aside the college's direction demanding enhanced fees from the January 2024 semester onwards. The Bench found that the State's Notification dated 16 October 2023—which revised the fee ceiling for private engineering colleges—could not be applied to students who had already completed the admission process, paid fees and commenced classes for the 2023–27 academic session.The Court held that although Regulation 7(7) of the AICTE (1994) Regulations requires colleges to intimate the competent authority “in advance” about the fees for the entire course, it does not mandate that the final decision on fee revision must be taken before the session begins. Thus, the State's fee-revision process was not procedurally illegal. However, the Court emphasised that the original fee structure of the college itself treated the total course fee as an integrated, en bloc fee for the entire 2023–27 session. The clause stating that the structure was “subject to change from time to time” could not authorise disruptive mid-course enhancement for ongoing students.Critically, the Court harmoniously interpreted the Notification's use of the phrases “students to be admitted in the 1st year”, “w.e.f. 2023–24 academic session” and “will take effect from the date of notification”. Read together, these expressions indicated that the revised fee structure applied only to those students who were yet to take admission as on 16 October 2023, and not to those who had already been admitted between July and September 2023. Any contrary interpretation would render the Notification internally contradictory and unworkable, the Court observed.The Bench noted that students exercise their choice of college based not merely on merit but also financial capacity; therefore, post-admission fee hikes could substantially prejudice them. The Court also rejected the argument that students who had already paid the enhanced fee had “acquiesced”, holding that such payments could not deprive other students of their legal rights.The appeals were accordingly allowed, setting aside the Single Judge's dismissal of the writ petitions, and the colleges were restrained from realising the enhanced fees from already-admitted students of the 2023–27 batch.Case:Tanushri Mondal and Others Versus The State of West Bengal and OthersCase No: M.A.T. No. 268 of 2026Click here to read order

Mid-Session Fee Hike Cannot Apply To Already-Admitted Students: Calcutta High Court Quashes College's Demand Notice

Srinjoy Das

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