Supreme Court Stays HC Order Barring Private Unaided Veterinary Colleges In Punjab From Charging Tuition Fee During Internship

The Supreme Court recently issued a notice and stayed the operation of the Punjab and Haryana High Court's judgment, which held that private, unaided veterinary colleges cannot charge tuition fees from students during the mandatory internship period for the Bachelor of Veterinary Science & Animal Husbandry (B.V.Sc. & A.H.) programme.

By an order dated December 12, 2025, the High Court had held that charging a tuition fee during the internship period would be exploitative and contrary to the Veterinary Council of India's Regulations, as the very object of payment of internship allowance would be defeated.

The judgment was passed by a bench comprising Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor on a petition by students of the private unaided college affiliated with Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana.

The petitioners had argued that during the internship period, interns perform professional duties akin to employed veterinary doctors, and the VCI Regulations mandate payment of internship allowance, not the collection of tuition fees.

This order was challenged by the Khalsa College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, which is one of the affiliated universities of the GADVASU, before a bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma. The stay was granted by the bench on January 16.

Case Details: KHALSA COLLEGE OF VETERINARY AND ANIMAL SCIENCES v STATE OF PUNJAB & ORS|Special Leave to Appeal (C) No(s).733/2026

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Appearances: For Petitioner(s) :Mr. Devadatt Kamat, Sr. Adv. Mr. Nipun Arora, Adv. Ms. Akriti Chaubey, AORMr. Revanta Solanki, Adv. Mr. Himanshu Malik, Adv. Mr. Lokinder Singh Phougat, Adv. Mr. Darshan Sejwal, Adv.