Kochi: The High Court on Thursday quashed the order of the fee regulatory commission headed by Justice Rajendra Babu fixing the tuition fees structure for students in the private medical colleges of the state for the academic year 2017-18. The court asked the commission to fix the fees structure afresh within two months.
The court order is a setback for nearly 4,000 students who have secured admissions in 21 private medical colleges in the state as they may be asked to pay more than Rs 4.85 lakh to Rs 5.65 lakh fixed by the regulatory commission for the academic year 2017-18. The court observed that the fee fixed earlier was an interim measure.
The court issued the order on a batch of petitions filed by a slew of private medical colleges against the order of the fee regulatory commission. The private medical college managements have sought Rs 11-15 lakh as fees instead of the amount fixed by the regulatory commission. The existing fee structure, however, will remain in force till the fixation of the new fees by the commission.
The court has asked the educational institutions to cooperate with the regulatory commission. The court has also observed that all members of the fee regulatory commission should sign the order fixing the fee instead of two or three members doing it as was in the case of the earlier decision.
