Overview

• A division bench led by Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela dismissed DoE appeals against a 2024 order that quashed fee-hike restraints on Bluebells School International and Lilawati Vidya Mandir.
• The Court clarified that the government cannot impose blanket fee controls and may intervene only to prevent profiteering, commercialization of education, or capitation fees.
• The matters were remanded to the Directorate of Education for a fresh inquiry in accordance with law, with the Court anchoring authority in Sections 17, 18 and 24 of the Delhi School Education Act, 1973.
• Judges stressed that fees and any surplus must be used solely for educational purposes, with assessments to consider infrastructure, staff salaries, and plans for improvement or expansion.
• The decision follows the Delhi government’s 2025 fee-transparency bill covering roughly 1,677 unaided schools, which creates grievance mechanisms and penalties but operates within judicially defined limits.