India, May 23 -- The Delhi high court on Friday held that private unaided recognised schools are not required to obtain prior permission or sanction from the Directorate of Education (DoE) to hike fees at the commencement of an academic session, clarifying that such a step is needed only when they seek to implement a fee hike during an ongoing academic session.

However, adopting an equitable approach, a bench of justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani directed that the fee increases proposed by the respective schools in the statements submitted to the DoE would take effect only from the 2027 academic session. The bench clarified that no school would be permitted to demand or recover any arrears of fees or other charges retrospectively for previous...