Blitz Bureau
THE Supreme Court on September 30 granted relief to a Dalit student who lost his admission to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) because he was late in paying the online admission fee of Rs 17,500 by a few minutes.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra used its plenary powers under Article 142 and asked the IIT to create a seat for the student and directed that the petitioner should be admitted to the seat at the Electrical Engineering course at IIT Dhanbad which was allotted to him and should be given all consequential benefits such as hostel admission.
The court also said that a supernumerary post be created for him to accommodate him so that the admission of no other student is disturbed.
The petitioner, the son of a daily wage worker in Uttar Pradesh and hailing from a family which is below the poverty line, collected the amount of Rs 17,500 from the villagers on June 24 by 4.45 PM but could not pay online before the deadline of 5 PM.
“We cannot allow such a young talented boy to go away,” CJI DY Chandrachud observed. When the counsel appearing for the IIT Seat Allocation Authority opposed the plea, Justice Pardiwala said, “Why are you opposing so much? You should see if something could be done.”
Counsel for the petitioner submitted that his father was working for a daily wage of Rs 450 and arranging the amount of Rs 17,500 was a big task for them and they crowdfunded the amount from the villagers.
The Bench, in its order, observed that there is no conceivable reason why the petitioner would not have paid the amount if he had the wherewithal to pay the amount of Rs.17,500.
“We are affirmatively of the view that a talented student like the petitioner should not be left in the lurch. The power of the Court under Article 142 of the Constitution to do complete justice is to address such situations,” the order said.
