High Court refuses to stay government order on…

By Correspondent On Jan 8, 2026

Private schools in the capital have suffered a big setback as Delhi High Court refused to stay the Delhi government’s order on regulating school fees. The High Court declined to put a hold on the government’s notification that directs private schools to form committees at the school level to regulate fees. Several private schools had approached the High Court seeking an immediate stay on the order, but the plea was rejected.

However, a division bench led by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Justice Tejas Karia granted limited relief. The court said that schools may form the required committees by January 20 instead of the earlier deadline of January 10. The bench also directed school managements to extend the fee payment deadline for parents to February 5. Earlier, the last date for paying fees was January 25.

More than 800 private schools in Delhi have challenged the constitutional validity of the Delhi government’s School Education (Transparency in Fee Fixation and Regulation) Act, 2025. The law requires that any increase in school fees must be approved by a transparent three-tier committee. Under the new system, the committee will include representatives from parents, school management and the government. The aim is to prevent arbitrary fee hikes by private schools.

Earlier, on December 24, 2025, the Delhi Directorate of Education issued a notification asking all private unaided schools to set up a School Level Fee Regulation Committee (SLFRC). The committee was to include a chairperson, the school principal, five parents, three teachers and one representative from the Directorate of Education.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for a group of private schools and argued that the notification was illegal and went against the Act. He sought a stay on its implementation. The Additional Solicitor General, appearing for the Delhi government, defended the law. He told the court that the Act is constitutional and was introduced to stop private schools from charging unreasonable fees.