The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to stay a Delhi government notification directing private schools in the capital to constitute school-level committees to regulate the fees charged by them.However, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Tejas Karia said that the committees can be constituted by January 20 instead of the earlier mandate of January 10. Further, the Bench said that the last date for submission of the fee proposed by the school management to the committee shall be extended to February 5. Earlier, it had to be done by January 25. .The Court passed the order while dealing with a batch of petitions filed by the private schools of the national capital challenging the constitutional validity of The Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Act, 2025. The new law mandates that all fee hikes in private schools must be approved through a transparent, three-tier committee system involving parents, school management and government representatives. A notification issued on December 24, 2025 by Delhi's Directorate of Education (DoE) was also challenged before the Court. The notification directed private unaided schools to form a School Level Fee Regulation Committee (SLFRC) by January 10, 2026. The committee was directed to comprise a chairperson, principal, five parents, three teachers and one representative from the DoE..Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for a group of private schools and stated that they have challenged the constitutional validity of the new law. Rohatgi stated that the notification should be stayed because it is contrary to the act and illegal. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) and defended the legislation, stating that it is constitutional and framed to curb the arbitrary fee charged by the schools. .After hearing the case for some time, the Court said that while it will not stay the notification, it will extend the time to comply with its mandate. The ASG, after taking instructions from the officials, agreed to the proposition. The Court then proceeded to extend the time for compliance with the notification. It also issued notices to the Delhi government and the Lieutenant Governor (LG), asking them to file their replies to the case. .The Department of Education was represented by Additional Solicitor General SV Raju , Special ED Counsel Zoheb Hossain and Advocate Annam Venkatesh..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.
