Key Points:
The Delhi High Court directed DPS Dwarka to reinstate 25 expelled students, provided parents deposit 50% of outstanding dues by April 17, 2026.
The school's coercive actions violated a May 2025 High Court order that explicitly protected students from discrimination over unapproved fee hikes.
Justice Jasmeet Singh reprimanded the school for using students as leverage, calling the recurring annual dispute a "mockery" and a "circus."
The Delhi High Court on Monday, April 6, 2026, directed the Delhi Public School (DPS), Dwarka to re-enroll 25 students in their academic session whose names had been cut off from the admission rolls for non-payment of outstanding fees. The school had earlier informed students in a notice issued last week on Monday, March 30, 2026, that it would remove those students from the admission rolls from April 7, 2026, whose fees were not paid. They had cited Delhi Education Act and Rules (DSEAR), 1973.
Following the notice issued by DPS Dwarka, over 100 parents had protested on Tuesday, April 1, 2026, outside the school premises. They had demanded immediate withdrawal of the order and intervention by the Directorate of Education (DoE), Delhi. The Delhi High Court reprimanded the school for taking such a coercive action against the students, despite previous orders by the Court and clear directive from the DoE.
A bench led by Justice Jagmeet Singh condemned the school for taking similar action against students every year. The Court noted: “It can’t be that every year we will undergo the same exercise. Once that there is an order, you have to comply with it in letter and spirit. It’s not fair on your (the school’s) part. Not fair at all. Every year, the same mockery, the same exercise.”
The recent expulsions were a direct violation of a coordinate bench’s order passed on May 16, 2025. That directive explicitly protected students from discrimination and victimization while the fee dispute was pending. It instructed parents to deposit 50 percent of the hiked fees until the DoE took a final call on the school's unapproved fee-increase requests.
This is not the first time DPS Dwarka has faced judicial scrutiny for its collection methods. The issue has become a recurring event, in early 2025, the High Court had to intervene to restrain the school from confining fee-defaulting students to the library, segregating them, and denying them access to regular classes as a pressure tactic to recover dues.
The Delhi High Court has now issued formal notices to the school's principal and the chairman of the managing committee, listing the contempt matter for its next hearing on August 27, 2026.
(Rh/GP)
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