Madras High Court refuses to stay circular mandating private schools in T.N. to display fee structure on notice boards

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The court was informed that an individual named M. Liyakath Ali had in 2022 filed an application under the Right to Information Act of 2005, seeking information regarding the fee structure of private schools. Representational image. File | Photo Credit: S. Siva Saravanan

The Madras High Court on Friday (June 5, 2026) refused to grant an interim stay on a circular issued by the Director of Private Schools on June 1, 2026, which instructed all private schools in Tamil Nadu to display their fee structures on their notice boards.

Justice M. Dhandapani rejected the plea for interim relief and said, he would prefer to take up for final hearing, after two weeks, a writ petition filed by All India Private Educational Institutions Association, represented by its general secretary K. Palaniappan of Chennai.

The petitioner association had challenged the June 1 circular, as well as Tamil Nadu Information Commission’s (TNIC) May 25, 2026, order, based on which the circular had been issued. It had urged the court to quash the TNIC’s order and the circular and stay them until the disposal of the main case.

The court was informed that an individual named M. Liyakath Ali had in 2022 filed an application under the Right to Information Act of 2005, seeking information regarding the fee structure of private schools. The application was addressed to the Public Information Officer (PIO)/Personal Assistant to Coimbatore Chief Educational Officer.

The PIO forwarded the application to the District Education Officer (DEO) who, in turn, forwarded it further to the individual schools in the district. Aggrieved over it, the applicant had taken the matter on second appeal before the TNIC and complained about the information not having been given to him.

The TNIC issued wide-ranging directions on the matter on May 25, 2026. It was in compliance of those directions that the Director of Private Schools had issued the circular under challenge, mandating all private schools to display their fee structures on