A Talented Student Belonging To Marginalized Group Should Not Be Left In The Lurch: SC Directs Admission Of Scheduled Caste Student To IIT Dhanbad
The Supreme Court directed the admission of a scheduled caste student to IIT Dhanbad while observing that a talented student belonging to a marginalized group who had done everything to secure admission should not be left in the lurch.
The Court, under Article 142 of the Constitution, ordered the creation of a supernumerary seat for the petitioner, who was unable to process his online fee payment before the portal closed, despite making six earnest attempts to log in and successfully upload his documents.
A Bench of Chief Justice Y Chandrachud, Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra observed, “The petitioner logged in on 24 June 2024 between 15.12 hours and 16.57 hours, on as many as six occasions. This evidently indicates that he was making earnest efforts to log into the portal. There is no conceivable reason why the petitioner would not have done so if he had the wherewithal to pay the fees of Rs 17,500. A talented student like the petitioner who belongs to a marginalized group of citizens and has done everything to secure admission should not be left in the lurch.”
Advocate Amol Chitale represented the petitioner, while Advocate Sonal Jain appeared for the respondents.
The petitioner was a meritorious student belonging to the Scheduled Caste category and had appeared for the JEE (Advanced) 2024 Examination. He secured a rank of 1455 in his category and was allotted a seat at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Dhanbad for a four year Bachelor of Technology course in Electrical Engineering. The petitioner disclosed that his father was a daily wager and his family income was below the poverty line.
The time frame for the completion of online reporting, including the payment of fees and uploading of documents was 5 pm on 24 June 2024. The petitioner stated that his parents arranged the funds required for the payment of fees. However, despite his earnest efforts, the portal closed at 5 pm and his payment was not processed.
The respondent authority submitted the log-in details of the petitioner, which indicated that he was diligent in accessing the portal and did everything within his power to secure the realization of his admission.
The Supreme Court stated, “The power of this Court under Article 142 of the Constitution to do substantial justice is meant precisely to cover such a situation.”
The Bench directed that the petitioner should be granted admission to IIT Dhanbad against the seat which was allotted to him in the branch of Electrical Engineering. The Bench further directed that the petitioner would be entitled to all the consequential benefits of admission, including allotment of hostel accommodation and other facilities.
Consequently, the Court ordered, “Since the admission of the petitioner has been delayed for no fault of his, we request the Director of IIT Dhanbad to use his good offices to ensure that the petitioner can duly complete the course work for the period which has already elapsed during this academic year. This will ensure that the petitioner is abreast of his class and does not suffer for the delay in granting him admission.”
Accordingly, the Supreme Court disposed of the petition.
Cause Title: Atul Kumar v. The Chairman (Joint Seat Allocation Respondents Authority) & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2024 INSC 749)
Appearance:
Petitioner: Advocates Amol Chitale and Sarthak Sharma; AOR Pragya Baghel
Respondents: Advocates Sonal Jain, Kajal Sharma and Arjun Mitra
