A Division Bench of the Telangana High Court (HC), comprising Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Renuka Yara, has directed private medical colleges and concerned authorities not to demand the balance tuition fee and to allow students to attend classes.
This order applies only to the appellants in the case.
The direction came while hearing a batch of writ appeals challenging a common order dated December 27, 2024, which had dismissed writ petitions filed against the exorbitant fee hike for Post Graduate Medical and Dental courses in Telangana for the 2023-2026 block period. The fee revision under the challenged Government Orders (GOs) saw tuition fees soar from Rs 5.8 lakh to Rs 24 lakh per year for management quota seats and from Rs 3.2 lakh to Rs 7.75 lakh per year for convenor quota seats, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
Senior Advocate S Ravi and Advocate Sama Sandeep Reddy, representing the appellants, pointed out that in the previous block period (2020-2023), the high court had allowed colleges to collect only 50-60% of the notified fees during the pendency of litigation.
In the present case as well, an interim direction was issued permitting the collection of only 60-70% of the fee. However, the colleges were now demanding the remaining balance from students and barring them from attending classes.
After hearing the appellants' arguments, the high court directed the colleges to refrain from insisting on the balance fee and to permit students to attend classes. The matter has been adjourned for 10 days for further hearing, according to the report by The New Indian Express.
