The Hindu : SC bans capitation fees

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 15, 2003

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SC bans capitation fees

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI AUG. 14. The Supreme Court today banned the collection of capitation fees by professional colleges and warned that charging fees over the approved fee structure in the guise of donation or any other form as also profiteering would not be permitted.

A five-Judge Constitution Bench headed by the Chief Justice, V.N. Khare, passed the order while interpreting the 11-Judge Bench judgment delivered by the apex court last year in the `T.M.A. Pai case'.

The Bench, which included Justice S.N. Variava, Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice Arijit Pasayat, also made it clear that the States could regulate admissions by fixing the percentage of seats through a common entrance test conducted by a State agency and the seats to be filled by the managements themselves.

For the current academic year, the Bench fixed the quota at 50:50 by the State and the management.

However, if admissions had already been completed based on any other percentage, such admissions shall not be disturbed.

The Bench took up for consideration four issues: whether educational institutions are entitled to fix their own fee structure; whether the minority and the non-minority educational institutions stand on the same footing and have the same rights; whether private unaided professional colleges (PUPCs) are entitled to fill in their seats to the extent of 100 per cent and whether the PUPCs are entitled to admit students by evolving their own method of admission.

`No rigid fee structure'

The Bench said there could be no fixing of a rigid fee structure by the Government and each institution must have the freedom to fix its own fee structure, which shall be done keeping in mind the infrastructure and facilities available, investments made, salaries paid to the staff and future plans for expansion and/or betterment of the institution.

`Appoint a committee'

For determining the fee structure, the Bench directed the appointment of a committee in each State, headed by a retired judge of the High Court, with a chartered accountant, representatives of the Medical Council of India or the All-India Council for Technical Education depending upon the type of institution as members.

The secretary in-charge of technical or medical education shall be its member secretary.

The Bench said the fee fixed by the committee shall be binding for a period of three years. The college shall not charge any fee other than the approved fee structure.

If any institution was found charging capitation fees or profiteering, the college would face the prospect of losing its recognition/affiliation.

Also, no college shall collect fees for four years at one go from students apprehending that they would leave the institution. At the most, it could ask the student to give a bank guarantee or bond.

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