The Supreme Court has held that fees for a professional course must ordinarily be determined and notified for the entire duration of the course before admission, so that a student entering a four- or five-year programme knows at the threshold the financial liability the family is undertaking. A Bench of Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe delivered the judgment on 14 October 2026 in Dr. B.C. Roy Engineering College v. State of West Bengal (2026 INSC 1120).

Variation mid-course, the Court held, is permissible only in exceptional circumstances — such as an unforeseen increase in expenditure due to extraordinary economic conditions, or a change in law.

The Court said fee-fixation committees must function as continuing institutions, anticipate costs including foreseeable increases, and complete the fee determination before admissions commence.

The Court upheld the Calcutta High Court's protection for students admitted before the West Bengal government notification of 16 October 2023 — additional amounts collected from them must be refunded or adjusted.

The background to the case: students joined the 2023-27 B.Tech batch in September 2023. The notification of 16 October 2023 capped annual tuition at Rs 1.10 lakh (yaani one lakh ten thousand rupees per year), plus development fees of up to 15% and an extra 10% for specified accredited, autonomous or ranked institutions. The college then raised semester tuition — for example from Rs 44,000 to Rs 60,500 for some branches, a rise of about 37.5% — from the second semester in January 2024.

Sources: Bar and Bench, The Times of India / Education Times, Jurishour and LawTrend reporting of the judgment.