In a landmark verdict passed on September 16, the Karnataka high court reaffirmed an earlier judgement of the Supreme Court in Indian School, Jodhpur vs. State of Rajasthan (Civil Appeal 1724 of 2021) upholding the right of private school managements to determine the tuition fees chargeable by them. A writ petition was filed by several appellants against a Rajasthan state government order directing all private schools statewide to restrict themselves to levying 70 percent of their tuition (fees) for the academic year 2020-21 when all schools countrywide were ordered to lock down their campuses for fear of the Coronavirus infecting children, and switch to online learning to the extent possible.

Responding to appeals of parents to direct private school managements to reduce their fees, the state government issued orders under several provisions of the Rajasthan School Fees Regulation Act, 2016 to issue the impugned directive. It was challenged by the petitioners as violative of their fundamental right to carry on a legitimate business, trade or profession under Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution and to derive a reasonable profit therefrom as affirmed by a full bench of the apex court in TMA Pai Foundation vs. Union of India (2002).

In its latest landmark judgement, the Supreme Court held that the right to determine fees payable by parents/students is vested in the “management alone,” and upheld the sanctity of the contracts between parents and school managements for admission of their children. The apex court ruled that government is permitted to moderate or reduce contracted fees payable only in instances of profiteering and levy of capitation fees, expressly prohibited by the court in its TMA Pai Case. In the Indian School, Jodhpur Case, the apex court struck down the directive of the Rajasthan government restricting private schools to collecting 70 percent of tuition fee, but bearing in mind special circumstances of the pandemic year 2020-21, it directed school managements to collect 85 percent of total fees payable in the pre-pandemic year 2019-20. This ratio decidendi has been followed by the Karnataka high court in its September 16 judgement and welcomed by private school managements.

In the circumstances, it would be in the larger public interest for governments at the centre and especially in the states, to accept these verdicts as the final word on the issue of regulating fees of private schools. Obviously, fees determined by private school managements are dependent upon capital invested and range of academic, co-curricular and sports education facilities provided to students.

Therefore, governments should refrain from pandering to the middle class and respect the sanctity of contracts in private education. India’s 450,000 private schools educate and mentor 48 percent of the country’s 260 million school-going children and have educated almost the entire middle class. The proper role of government is to raise teaching-learning standards in the country’s 1.20 million government schools, not badger and harass private schools.