"A bunch of students paid in fear, as the varsity said that if they don't pay, their services would be withdrawn," advocate Amit Sibal appearing for the Students Union in the Court said.
He further said in the court that the "draft manual be stayed and those who have paid, either be refunded or the amount be adjusted".
The arguments took place while a single Judge bench of the High Court presided by Justice Rajiv Shakdar was hearing a plea filed by JNUSU President Aishe Ghose and others seeking the direction of the court to restrain the JNU administration from imposing late fees on students for registrations in the Winter Semester-2020.
The plea also sought directions to the university restraining them from taking any action which would give effect to the draft hostel manual.
On January 20, three days after the deadline for registration for the winter semester in the University, the administration claimed that 82 per cent of the total 8,500 enrolled students have cleared their hostel dues.
The administration added that it was hoping for the number to go up further as the registration was still open but with a late fee.
"Out of 8,500 students at JNU, 82 per cent of the students have cleared their hostel dues for winter registration as of Monday," a statement by the JNU administration had said.
On January 16, the JNU had extended the last date of the registrations for the winter semester to January 17. The extension was announced for the third time since the original deadline of January 5.
( With inputs from IANS )