The court reaffirmed that fee fixation determined by a committee must apply prospectively and cannot retroactively impose a refund on students admitted prior to the fee committee's ruling.

JUDGMENT :

B.R. GAVAI, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. The present appeals challenge the common judgment and final order dated 6th April 2010 passed by the High Court of Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur (hereinafter referred to as, “High Court”) whereby the writ petition filed by appellant-college objecting to the fee fixation came to be dismissed and a batch of writ petitions filed by the students (admitted to the BDS course in the appellant-college in the academic years 2003-2004 and 2004-2005) came to be allowed thereby directing the students to pay tuition fee at the rate of the fee fixed i.e. Rs. 1,25,000/- and further directed that any amount paid by the students in excess shall be refunded by the appellant-college.

3. The facts, in brief, giving rise to the present appeals are as under:

3.1 The appellant-college was established after obtaining formal permission from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare vide letter dated 27th February 2002.

3.2 In the prospectus of the appellant-college, the fee was fixed at Rs. 2,12,500 (tuition fee) plus Rs. 12,500 (caution fee) for the general category candidates and Rs. 1,12,500 (tuition fee) plus Rs. 12,500 (caution fee) for reserved category candidates belonging to SC/ST/OBC. Accordingly, the appellant-college admitted the respondents-students.

3.3 Subsequent to the students being admitted, this Court vide judgment and order dated 14th August 2003 in the case of Islamic Academy of Education and Another vs. State of Karnataka and Others , (2003) 6 SCC 697 directed that every State shall constitute a committee for fixation of fee to be charged from students.

3.4 Accordingly, a committee being Justice S.D. Jha Committee (hereinafter referred to as, “Fee Fixation Committee”) was constituted by the State of Chhattisgarh. It appears that there were differences of opinion between the Chairman of the committee and the other members of the committee. Ultimately, the Fee Fixation Committee determined the fee structure at Rs. 1,25,000/- for the appellant-college. It was made clear that the said fee would be effective from the academic year 2005-2006 for three years i.e. up to the academic year 2007-2008.

3.5 The State Government, accordingly, issued a letter dated 25th July 2005 to the appellant-college thereby fixing the fee at the aforesaid rate.

3.6 The appellant-college, being aggrieved with the fee fixation on the ground that it was done without considering any material, approached the High Court by way of a writ petition being W.P. No. 3628/2005. In the said petition vide order dated 29th September 2005, the appellant-college was directed to change the fee structure with effect from the academic year 2005-2006.

3.7 In the meantime, it appears that some of the students who were admitted in the year 2003-2004 filed a writ petition being W.P. No. 5764/2005 wherein the High Court passed an order on 29th November 2005 restraining the appellant-college from demanding fee in excess of the fee fixed by the Fee Fixation Committee i.e. Rs. 1,25,000/-. Subsequently, on 31st January 2006, the aforesaid order was modified by the High Court thereby directing the students to pay a sum of Rs. 1,50,000/- towards tuition fee and the said arrangement was subject to final outcome of the writ petition.

3.8 The High Court vide common impugned judgment and final order dated 6th April 2010 in the batch of petitions filed by the appellant-college as well as the students directed that the fee of Rs. 1,25,000/- per year per student shall apply even for the students admitted prior to the academic year 2005-2006 and any amount paid by the students in excess of the fees fixed by the Fee Fixation Committee shall be refunded by