The Supreme Court on Monday came to the rescue of a student, the son of a daily wager and a member of a Scheduled Caste community, who missed admission to the Indian Institute of Technology (Dhanbad) due to his inability to pay ₹17,500 as fees on time before the admission portal closed.
“He is a brilliant student. No child seeking education should go back disappointed from the Supreme Court,” Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, heading a three-judge Bench, said.
The court exercised its extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution to open the doors of IIT Dhanbad to Atul Kumar, who was present in the courtroom.
Mr. Kumar had secured a rank of 1,455 for the JEE (Advanced) 2024 exam in his category. He had been allotted a seat at IIT Dhanbad for the four-year Bachelor of Technology course in the Electrical Engineering. It was his second and final shot at securing admission.
The court noted that Mr. Kumar had struggled against the odds of his life to achieve his dream to study at an IIT. The family income was below the poverty line. He had studied in a higher secondary school at Khatauli, Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Kumar’s two brothers are studying at IIT Kharagpur and NIT Hamirpur.
On June 24, he had logged in to the admission portal after his parents somehow managed to collect ₹17,500. However, the portal closed by the time he could complete filling in his details. After his attempts to communicate his quandary with the exam authority IIT Madras, Mr. Kumar approached the Madras High Court through legal aid. The High Court advised him to appeal to the Supreme Court for relief.
“Affirmatively, he is a talented student who belongs to a marginalised community and who has done everything to secure admission. Our power to do substantive justice under Article 142 is precisely for situations like this,” the Chief Justice noted. “All the best,” he wished Mr. Kumar at the end of the hearing.
Published - September 30, 2024 10:53 pm IST
