Delhi govt gives schools 10 more days to set up fee regulating panels, submit fee hike proposals
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing on behalf of the DoE, extended the deadlines at the urging of the division bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia.
The bench has also issued notice to the DoE and Lieutenant Governor (L-G) VK Saxena, seeking their response to the contentions raised in the petitions. The matter is scheduled for next hearing on March 12.
The Directorate of Education (DoE) told The Delhi High Court on Thursday that it will extend the deadline for constituting the School-level Fee Regulation Committee (SLFRC), under the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Act, 2025, to January 20, instead of the earlier deadline of January 10. It also extended the deadline for submission of proposed fee hikes by school managements to the SLFRC to February 5 from January 25.
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing on behalf of the DoE, extended the deadlines at the urging of the division bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia.
The HC, which was hearing a batch of petitions filed by schools challenging the constitutional validity of the new law that looks to regulate fee hikes by private schools, meanwhile, refused to stay a notification issued by the DoE requiring private schools in the Capital to constitute internal committees to regulate fees charged by them.
The new Act had come into effect on December 10 last year. A key provision of the law mandates a three-tier committee structure to audit fee hikes and comes after years of friction between parent associations and private schools over arbitrary fee hikes.
While extending the deadline, the bench refused to stay the December 24 order of the DoE, which issued directions for the constitution and functioning of the SLFRC for the 2025-26 academic session.
Among the petitions is one filed by the Action Committee Unaided Recognized Private Schools, an association of more than 800 member schools.
The association, represented by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi and advocate Kamal Gupta, has argued that the new legislation is “a result of populism” and has been enacted with “no application of mind”, while describing it as “malafide, biased, arbitrary, and malicious in nature.”
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In their petition, the association has argued that as education falls under the concurrent list, the Delhi government lacks the competency to enact a law for fee regulation when there is already an existing parliamentary legislation — the Delhi School Education Act, 1973 — in place.
The bench has also issued notice to the DoE and Lieutenant Governor (L-G) VK Saxena, seeking their response to the contentions raised in the petitions. The matter is scheduled for next hearing on March 12.
Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court
Professional Profile
Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express.
Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare).
Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others.
She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020.
With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram
Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025)
Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles:
High-Profile Case Coverage
She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy.
Signature Style
Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system.
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