SRI VENKATESWARAA UNIVERSITY Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Shri.Venkateswara University, governed by the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Private Universities Act, 2019, was permitted by the National Medical Commission to run Medical College with a sanctioned strength of 150 students, vide letter of permission dtd. 23/8/2022. The fees for the students admitted in the college were subjected to the recommendation of the Committee on Fixation of Fee in respect of self-financing Colleges. The said Fees Fixation Committee issued proceedings dtd. 15/10/2022, fixing the fees for the academic years 2022-2023, 2023-2024 and 2024-2025.

(2.) For the academic year 2025-2026, the Fees Fixation Committee convened a meeting with the stakeholders to discuss about the fixation of fees for the UG and PG Medical courses offered by the Self-Financing Medical Colleges. After deliberations and considering the judgment of the Hon 'ble Supreme Court rendered in Rashtreeya Sikshana Samithi Trust and others vs. Committee for Fixation of Fee Structure for Private Colleges and others, reported in 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 501, the Committee, in its proceedings dtd. 12/6/2025, recommended the maximum fees to be collected by the respective private colleges as per the classification given in the table. The said proceedings are the subject matter under challenge in the present writ petition.

(3.) The prime contention of the writ petitioner University is that it had given representations on various dates, before and after the impugned proceedings, emphasizing that the Hon 'ble Supreme Court, in its judgment in T.M.A. Pai Foundation vs. State of Karnataka reported in (2002) 8 SCC 481, later clarified in the Islamic Academy of Education case, had directed the State Government to constitute Committee for fees structure only as a stop-gap arrangement till appropriate legislation is framed by the State Government. Further, the clarification given by the Seven-Judges Bench of the Hon 'ble Supreme Court in P.A.Inamdar and others vs. State of Maharastra and others reported in (2005) 6 SCC 537, clearly indicates that the power of the Fee Committee to recommend fee structure is only a stop-gap arrangement made in exercise of powers conferred under Article 142 of the Constitution of India, until suitable legislation or regulation is framed by the States. While so, the Tamil Nadu Private Universities Act, 2019, is the appropriate legislation which contains provisions including fixation of Fees. Therefore, the Fees Fixation Committee has lost its jurisdiction to recommend the fees structure for the writ petitioner University, which is governed by the Tamil Nadu Private University Act, 2019.