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On Monday, the Supreme Court observed that education is not the business to earn profit and tuition fees in educational institutions should always be affordable as it noted that the Andhra Pradesh Government has decided to enhance fees to Rs 24 lakhs per year which is seven times more than the fee fixed earlier is not acceptable.

On Monday, a bench of justices, MR Shah and Sudhanshu Dhulia, made these remarks while supporting Andhra Pradesh High Court's order which put aside the State Government's decision to increase the tuition fee payable by the MBBS students.

By its Government Order dated September 6, 2017, the Andhra Pradesh government enhanced the tuition fee payable by MBBS students.

The court said we believe the High Court has not committed any error in suppressing and setting aside the Government Order dated September 6, 2017, enhancing the tuition fee for the block years 2017-20.

The court added that enhancing the fee to Rs 24 lakhs per year which is seven times more than the fee fixed earlier is not acceptable at all. Education is not the business to make a profit. The tuition fee shall always be affordable for all.

The court followed that the determination of the fee/review of the fee must be within the parameters of the fixation rules and have direct nexus with the aspects mentioned in Rule 4 of the Rules, 2006. It includes the location of the professional institution, infrastructure cost, nature of the professional course, expenditure on administration and maintenance, the cost of available infrastructure, an inexpensive surplus needed for growth and development of the professional institution, the revenue foregone on account of the release of the fee, if any, in respect of students belonging to the reserved category or other (EWS) Economically Weaker Sections of the society.

The court noted that these characteristics must be considered by the (AFRC) Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee while determining/reviewing the tuition fees.

The court also expressed that Andhra Pradesh High Court had not committed any error in issuing directions in order to refund the tuition fee amount collected under the Government Order dated September 6, 2017. The court said, therefore, the High Court is justified in quashing and setting aside Government Order dated September 6, 2017.

Medical colleges have used the amount for many years and kept it with them for a number of years. On the other hand, students paid the unreasonable tuition fee after receiving loans from banks and financial institutions and paid the higher interest rate. Noting this, the court said the management can't be allowed to keep the amount recovered/collected under the illegal Government Order dated 06.09.2017. The medical institutes are the beneficiaries of the prohibited Government Order dated September 6, 2017, which was rightly set aside by the High Court.

The court said, therefore, even the orders issued by the High Court to refund the amount of tuition fee recovered/collected under the Government Order dated September 6.09.2017, after adjusting the amount owed as per the earlier determination, are not required to be interrupted with.

With these observances, the top court dismissed the requests filed by the medical college against the Andhra Pradesh High Court order.

News Source: NDTV