Delhi High Court stays State's order on private schools fee regulation

The Delhi High Court on Saturday stayed the Delhi government's notification which had directed private schools in the national capital to constitute school-level fee regulation committees (SLFRCs) and submit details of the proposed fee for the next three academic years. .The Court said the schools can charge the same fee for this academic year as they did last year. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said that the notification dated February 1 shall remain in abeyance till the case is heard finally by the court.“In view of the above, it would be expedient to defer the constitution of the SLFRC during the pendency of the petition which are scheduled to be heard finally on 12 March 2026. Accordingly, it is directed that during the pendency of the present petitions, the operation and implementation of clauses 3(1), and 3(2) of the notification shall remain in abeyance. The petitioners [schools] shall be entitled to collect the same fees for the academic year 2026-2027, as was collected for the previous academic year till the fee is fixed/approved in terms of the Act and the Rules, subject to the outcome of these petitions,” the Court said.As per the notification, the SLFRCs were to be constituted in 10 days of the notification (by February 10), and the details of the proposed fee were to be sent to the government in two weeks thereafter. However, the timeline was extended by the High Court through its interim orders. .The Bench today passed the stay order while dealing with applications in the petitions filed by the city’s private schools challenging the February 1 notification of the government. The notification published in the gazette on February 1 and titled 'Delhi School Education (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2026' directed the constitution of the committees within ten days from the date of publication. Further, the order directed school management to submit details of the proposed fee for the next block of three academic years starting from 2026-2027, within 14 days.The schools argued that this order, intended to “remove difficulties”, overrode the parent act, Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Act, 2025, by advancing the date for the constitution of SLFRC.It was the schools’ case that while the Act says the committees are to be constituted by July 15, the order mandated it to be done by February 10. Notably, the schools had earlier approached the High Court challenging a December 24, 2025, notification of the government directing schools to constitute the SLFRCs by January 10, 2026 and applying the free regulation act and rules to the academic session 2025-26. On January 9, 2026, the High Court issued notices in the matter and extended the time to constitute the committees to January 20. Meanwhile, the government withdrew the December 2025 notification and issued the February 1 notification. As the schools challenged the High Court order of January 9 before the Supreme Court, the government made a statement that the new fee law will not apply to the 2025-26 academic session. The apex court then disposed of the plea, adding that the challenge to the February 1 notification may be considered by the High Court. The schools then approached the High Court, which heard the matter today. .Senior Advocate Akhil Sibal along with advocates Kamal Gupta, Tripti Gupta, Sparsh Aggarwal, Siddharth Arora and Sugandh Shahi of Kamal Gupta & Co appeared for the Action Committee Unaided Recognised Private Schools. .Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju with advocates Zoheb Hossain, Annam Venkatesh, Pranav Sarthi, Samrat Goswami, Ayush Raj, Harsh Paul Singh, Pranjal Tripathi, Satyam, Sikhar Yadav, Chinmay, Agrimaa Singh, Aryansh Shukla, Prachi Dhingra, Utkarsh Vatsa, Udit Bajpai, Shaurya Sarin, Aditi Andley, Hitarth Raja and Sanjeev Meno represented the Delhi government. .Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.