The Supreme Court has held that the fees for a professional course such as engineering must be notified for the entire course before students take admission, and cannot be raised midway except in exceptional cases of unforeseen cost increases.
The SC has upheld the Calcutta High Court’s order that students admitted before a 16 October 2023 notification cannot be charged the higher fees.
However, SC did so for its own reasons and set aside the High Court’s reasoning based on retrospectivity and estoppel. B.Tech students of the 2023-27 batch at Dr. B.C. Roy Engineering College were admitted in September 2023 on the fee structure given at admission.
On 16 October 2023, the West Bengal government raised the ceiling on fees for self-financing colleges, after a seven-year gap since the last revision, and made the rise applicable from 2023-24. On 15 December 2023, the college revised the fees from the second semester, which meant a 37.5% increase and a new “development fee”. The students dropped their challenge to the notification and contested only its application to them. The Single Judge dismissed their writs, relying on a clause in the prospectus that said that the fees were “subject to change as per Government decision”. The Division Bench ruled for the students. Justices P.S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe held that fee determination must balance three interests, namely certainty for students and parents, the college’s need for resources and the public interest as represented by the regulators. Reading TMA Pai, Inamdar, Regulation 7 of the AICTE Regulations, 1994 and NEP 2020, which says that there shall be “no arbitrary increases” during enrolment, they said that authorities must notify the fee for the entire course before admission. Variation is allowed only in exceptional cases, such as unforeseen cost increases. The court blamed the fee fixation committee and the State for the delay and held that the college could not be blamed for its anxiety. It said that the committees have an institutional status and that the High Courts must ensure that they work efficiently. The High Court’s refund and reversal directions for students admitted before 16 October 2023 were affirmed, and the college must comply with them.
Note: The appeals were partly allowed, but the High Court’s final directions (refund or adjustment for students admitted before 16 October 2023) were affirmed. The court expressly rejected the High Court’s reasoning on retrospectivity of the notification and on estoppel against the college. The students had dropped their challenge to the validity of the notification itself, so the court did not decide it.
Citation: Dr. B.C. Roy Engineering College & Anr. v. State of West Bengal & Ors., Civil Appeal arising out of SLP (C) No. 13237 of 2026 (with connected appeals arising out of SLP (C) Nos. 13690-13691, 16753, 14913-14914, 15617-15618 and 16677 of 2026), Supreme Court (Justices Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Alok Aradhe), decided on 14.10.2026 | 2026 INSC 1120
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