‘If you are unable to pay, get scholarship’: Supreme Court dismisses EWS student’s plea against private medical college fees

Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea filed by an Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) candidate who questioned how the Rs 8 lakh annual income limit for EWS eligibility could be reconciled with the high fees charged by private medical colleges.A Bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Joymalya Bagchi upheld a Rajasthan High Court order that had found the fee structure fixed by the State Fee Regulatory Committee to be legally valid.During the hearing, Justice Nagarathna said private colleges cannot be expected to charge the same fees as government institutions.“You cannot say private educational institutions shall charge the same as government institution. That cannot be. One person cannot come and say that private is exorbitant, so make it like government. These are self-financing institutes. For government ones…they get grant (subsidies) from the State. There is a vital difference,” she observed.Referring to earlier Supreme Court rulings, the judge added, “Please see TMA Pai. Capitation fee is banned…but that does not mean general college fees cannot be taken.”The Court also stressed the role played by private institutions in medical education. “Assistance of private medical colleges to the State in the field of medical education will stop then…We need doctors,” Justice Nagarathna said.On concerns about affordability, she remarked, “If you are unable to pay…get scholarship…subvention…”The petitioner had argued that annual tuition fees in private medical colleges in Rajasthan range between Rs 18.9 lakh and Rs 25 lakh. According to him, candidates from families earning up to Rs 8 lakh a year cannot realistically afford such education, making the EWS quota ineffective in practice.However, the Rajasthan High Court had earlier rejected this argument. It noted that the fee structure was fixed by the State Fee Regulatory Committee in line with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Islamic Academy of Education v. State of Karnataka.The High Court had also held that EWS reservation applies only at the stage of admission and does not give students the right to subsidised or reduced fees in private colleges. It further observed that there is no law requiring private institutions to offer fee concessions to EWS students.Refusing to interfere with that ruling, the court said, “We don’t find reason to intervene with the High Court order. Dismissed. Question of law, if any, is kept open.”