Maharashtra government orders ₹1,04,863 fee refund to ILS Law College alumnus

The Maharashtra government has directed ILS Law College, Pune to refund ₹1,04,863 to former student Mayur Suhas Garud, along with 6% annual interest, for having collected excess fees without university approval..The order was passed on Wednesday by Chandrakant Patil, Minister for Higher and Technical Education of Maharashtra. It marks the third successive official finding against ILS on the fee issue, following an inquiry by Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) in 2025 and a government order in April 2026..The first finding came from a four-member inquiry committee constituted by the SPPU Vice-Chancellor in August 2025 following a complaint about excessive and unauthorised fees. The committee's August 9, 2025 report recommended action against the College.The second finding followed a writ petition filed by Garud before the Bombay High Court. The Directorate of Higher Education (DHE) constituted a 3-member committee, chaired by the Joint Director of Higher Education, which submitted its report on March 30, 2026. Based on this, the government's order dated April 13, 2026 held that the ₹1,04,863 collected from Garud as "Other Fees" for the academic years 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2024-25 had been charged unlawfully and non-transparently. It directed a refund with 6% interest. Indian Law Society, which runs the College, challenged the April 2026 order before the Bombay High Court. Following the Court's directions, the matter was reconsidered afresh. The College was given a hearing and written submissions from all parties were taken into account. In its detailed order dated September 2, the government again rejected the College's defence..The government noted that the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016 has been in force since March 1, 2017. The College's proposal for "Other Fees," however, was submitted to SPPU only on March 23, 2023. It, therefore, found that the fees charged to Garud for 2020-21 and 2021-22 lacked University approval. The government also rejected the College's argument of "deemed approval," noting that the Act contains no such provision.It further noted the gap between the fees the College had charged Garud (₹36,790, ₹31,283 and ₹36,790) and the amounts the University's Fee Fixation Committee later fixed as "Other Fees" for the academic years 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25: ₹2,714, ₹4,031 and ₹3,342 respectively.The press note accompanying the order states that its implications extend beyond Garud's individual refund and raises the question of whether other students who paid similar fees without the requisite approval should also receive relief.Students of the College have called for the relief to be extended to all similarly placed students. The order records that the requisite prior approval under Section 101(7) of the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016 had not been obtained and that the fees were collected "unlawfully and non-transparently." According to the press note, students have been pursuing the matter collectively for several months. A complaint running to around 130 pages, with annexures and signatures of more than 100 students, was submitted to the Directorate of Higher Education, Pune and remains unanswered..[Read Order]