New Delhi, July 29 -- The Delhi high court has restrained Maharaja Agrasen Model School from taking coercive action against students for non-payment of increased fees for the 2023-24 academic session onwards, provided parents pay all dues as per the Directorate of Education (DoE)-approved fee structure till 2022-23 and continue paying the hiked fees thereafter. Justice Vikas Mahajan passed the interim order on Thursday on a petition by the Agrasen Parents Association, represented by advocate Anjani Kumar Mishra. The petition challenged the school's demand for higher fees without DoE approval and alleged that students were being barred from classes for non-payment. The school's counsel, advocate Pramod Gupta, argued that the institution was not obligated to seek DoE approval for revising fees, even if operating on government-allotted land. The DoE, represented by advocate Avani Singh, said it had approved hikes from 2019-20 to 2022-23 but had yet to decide on the 2023-24 structure. The court noted that under existing law, "schools can charge revised fees under review unless the DoE explicitly disapproves them for 'profiteering' or 'commercialisation.'" The ruling comes weeks after another high court bench, on June 5, slammed Delhi Public School, Dwarka, for deploying bouncers to bar students over unpaid fees. "Public shaming or intimidation. constitutes mental harassment," the court observed, calling the move "reprehensible." In April, education minister Ashish Sood announced plans to introduce an ordinance implementing a bill to regulate arbitrary hikes by private schools....