Justice Vikas Mahajan, Delhi High Court
Delhi High Court Restrains School From Taking Coercive Action Over Unapproved Fee Hike, Allows Parents To Pay Arrears In Installments
|A petition was filed by a parents’ association alleging that the school was denying education and other facilities to students who had not paid the hiked fee.
The Delhi High Court has directed Maharaja Agrasen Model School not to take any coercive action against students for non-payment of enhanced fees that were allegedly increased without the prior approval of the Directorate of Education (DoE).
A petition was filed by a parents’ association alleging that the school was denying education and other facilities to students who had not paid the hiked fee.
A Bench of Justice Vikas Mahajan, “respondent no.1/School shall not take any coercive action against the students subject to them clearing all dues up till academic session 2022-23 as per the approved fee structure decided by the respondent no.2/DoE and further, paying the fee as per the statement of fees submitted by respondent no.1/School for academic sessions 2023-24 onwards, till the time DoE takes a decision on the same.”
Advocate Anjani Kumar Mishra appeared for the Petitioner and Advocate Pramod Gupta appeared for the Respondents.
The association claimed that students had been regularly paying fees as approved by the DoE, but the school insisted on a higher structure implemented without mandatory authorization.
The Court had earlier, on April 4, 2025, passed an interim order directing the school to allow students to attend classes. That direction continues to remain in force.
The Court noted that although there was a limited interim stay in the LPA, the judgment in Action Committee–I had not been set aside and still held persuasive value. Citing past rulings, including those by the Supreme Court in Shree Chamundi Mopeds Ltd., the Court emphasized that a stay on operation does not nullify the reasoning of a judgment.
Further, relying on Naya Samaj Parents Association v. Apeejay School and Divya Mattey v. GNCTD, the Court reiterated that under current legal interpretation, schools can fix fees at the beginning of each academic session and are only required to submit their fee structure to the DoE under Section 17(3) of the Delhi School Education Act, 1973. Any challenge on grounds of profiteering or commercialization must be decided by the DoE.
In a short affidavit, the DoE clarified its position on the school’s fee proposals across multiple academic sessions.
Accordingly, the Court ruled that the school shall not take any coercive action against students who have paid their dues up to the 2022–23 academic session as per the fee structure approved by the Directorate of Education (DoE). For the academic years 2023–24 onwards, students are required to pay fees as per the school’s declared structure until the DoE formally reviews and decides on the same.
The Court also directed that no late fee charges be imposed, and allowed parents to clear pending arrears for the academic sessions 2023–24 and 2024–25 in four equal quarterly installments, starting from September 1, 2025. Additionally, any excess fee paid by students for academic sessions prior to 2023–24 must be adjusted against future payments.
The Court clarified that these directions are interim and subject to the final outcome of the writ petition.
The matter is now listed for further hearing on November 17, 2025.
Cause Title: Agrasen Parents Association v. Maharaja Agrasen Model School & Anr., [2025:DHC:6026]
Appearance:
Petitioner: Advocates Anjani Kumar Mishra, Aditya, Kailash Kumar Jha, Vipin Kumar and Pralika Chakraborty
Respondents: Advocates Pramod Gupta, Deepakshi Bhalla, Umang Dixit, Himanshi, Avni Singh