The SC upheld the HC’s direction to refund the ‘excess’ fee collected under the govt order issued on Sept 6, 2017. It held the college could not be permitted to retain the amount collected pursuant to an illegal government order.
New Delhi: Maintaining that education is not a business to earn profit, the Supreme Court set aside an Andhra Pradesh government order of 2017 prescribing a seven-fold increase in MBBS fees that made it Rs. 24 lakh per annum. The bench of Justices MR Shah and Sudhanshu Dhulia observed that the G.O. enhancing the tuition fee on the representations made by the private medical colleges was ‘wholly impermissible and most arbitrary and only with a view to favour and/or oblige the private medical colleges’.
“Education is not the business to earn profit. The tuition fee shall always be affordable,” said a bench of justices MR Shah and Sudhanshu Dhulia. The top court agreed with the conclusion made by the high court and said, “to enhance the fee to INR 24 lakh per annum, i.e., seven times more than the fee fixed earlier was not justifiable at all,” as reported by Hindustan Times.
The bench said that the state government order is “wholly impermissible and most arbitrary and the hike was done only with a view to favour or oblige the private medical colleges.”
EXCESS CHARGES TO BE REFUNDED
The SC upheld the HC’s direction to refund the ‘excess’ fee collected under the govt order issued on Sept 6, 2017
It held the college could not be permitted to retain the amount collected pursuant to an illegal government order.
SC SLAPS RS 2.5 LAKH COST ON MEDICAL INSTITUTE
The SC imposed a cost of Rs 2.5 lakh each on the petitioner college and the Andhra Pradesh Government, asking them to deposit the amount with the court’s Registry in six weeks.
SC LISTS FACTORS FOR REVISION IN FEE
- Location of the institution
- Nature of the professional course; cost of available infrastructure
- Expenditure on administration and maintenance
- A reasonable surplus required for growth and development of the institution
- The revenue foregone on account of quota fee waiver
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