V. KAMESWAR RAO, J.

CM No. 41572/2017 (for taking the additional documents on record) & CM No. 41573/2017 (for permission to file LPA against the judgment and order dated 31.8.2017 in WP(C) 2217/2016) in LPA 733/2017

For the reasons stated in the applications, the same are allowed and disposed of.

LPAs 733/2017 & 734/2017

1. These two appeals have been filed by the students, who are pursuing, their education in various colleges affiliated to the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and the Govt. of NCT of Delhi. The common respondent is the Self Financing Educational Institutions Association, who is respondent No.3 in LPA 733/2017 and respondent No.1 in LPA 734/2017. The challenge is to the order dated August 31, 2017, passed by the learned Single Judge in W.P.(C) 2217/2016, whereby the learned Single Judge has allowed the writ petition filed by the Self Financing Educational Institutions Association, who had challenged the Notification dated March 10, 2016 of the Govt. of NCT of Delhi, whereby the Notification dated February 19, 2016 had been rescinded.

2. The notification dated February 19, 2016, had notified the acceptance of the recommendations made by the State Fee Regulatory Committee (in short ‘SFRC’) for the 2013-2016 sessions, as effective for the 2014-2017 academic sessions.

3. The facts leading up to the filing of the writ petition may be summed up as follows:

(i) The Govt. of NCT of Delhi (hereinafter “GNCTD”) had promulgated the Delhi Professional Colleges or Institutions (Prohibition of Capitation Fee, Regulation of Admission, Fixation of Non-Exploitative Fee and other Measures to Ensure Equity and Excellence) Act, 2007, (hereinafter, “the

Act”), providing for prohibition of capitation fee, regulation of admission, fixation of non-exploitative fee, allotment of seats to SCs/STs and other socially and economically backward classes, and other measures to ensure equity and excellence in professional education in the NCT of Delhi, and for matters connected therewith.

(ii) Section 6 of the Act empowers the Govt. to constitute a ‘Fee Regulatory Committee’ by way of a notification in the official gazette, for determination of the fee for pursuing a course in an institution.

(iii) The Act provides that upon receipt of recommendations from the Committee so constituted and upon being satisfied, the Govt. shall accept the same, and notify the same for implementation. The fee as notified shall be effective for a period of three years, unless further extended through a separate notification.

(iv) In the alternative, the Government may send the recommendations so received, back to the Committee, for reconsideration, along with its own observations. The Act provides that in such a situation, the fee as recommended by the Committee shall be charged by the Institutions, pending the reconsideration by the Committee.

(v) In the instant case, the Government had notified the Constitution of the SFRC in terms of Section 6 of the Act, for determination of the fee structure for the years 2013-2016, vide a notification dated February 01, 2013. The SFRC submitted its report in the year 2015.

(vi) It was only on February 19, 2016 that the Government notified its acceptance of the recommendations made by the SFRC, effective for the academic years 2014-2017. Consequently, the fee structure for the years 2014-2017, 2014-2018, and 2014-2019 for three, four, and five-year courses stood notified. Relevant extract of the aforesaid Notification reads as under:

“Now, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub sections (3) and (13) of section 6 of the said Act, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi notify that the proposed fees for the academic year 2013-2016 given by the State Fee Regulatory Committee for the academic year 2014-2017 and for the year 2014-2018 for four years course and 2014-2019 for five years course respectively”

(vii) On March 10, 2016, the Notification dated February 19, 2016 stood rescinded. It is noted that the