Capitation fee is illegal; profiteering, commercialisation of education sector unacceptable: Supreme Court

New Delhi: In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that Capitation fee being charged by the educational institutes is illegal.

Taking note of hard reality of very high capitation fee taken by various colleges for admission, the apex court said that educational institutions should not just focus on making profits, but run on 'no-profit-no-loss' basis, The Times of India report said.

A five-judge Constitution bench of Justices AR Dave, AK Sikri, RK Agrawal, AK Goel and R Banumathi that commercialisation of education sector is not permissible and put the onus on the government to curb malpractices.

The bench observed that the admission process should only be based on merits.

While expressing concern over the prevalence of capitation culture in the country, the SC categorically said, “profiteering and commercialisation are not permitted and no capitation fee can be charged.”

"Education is treated as a noble occupation on 'no-profit-no-loss' basis. Thus, those who establish and are managing the educational institutions are not expected to indulge in profiteering or commercialise this noble activity,” the ToI report quoted the SC bench as saying.

The top court said the government should ensure that educational institutions were not indulging in commercialisation.