Supreme Court IIT Dhanbad: The Supreme Court on Monday directed IIT Dhanbad to admit a Dalit student who lost his BTech seat after missing the deadline to pay the admission fee, invoking its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution.
A bench led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said the court could not let such a talented student be denied the opportunity.
“We cannot allow such a young talented boy to go away. He cannot be left in lurch,” the bench said, asking the institute to admit Atul Kumar into its Electrical Engineering program.
Kumar, 18, from a below poverty line (BPL) family in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district, missed the June 24 deadline to pay Rs 17,500 in fees to secure his seat.
His parents, struggling to gather the funds, sought help from various authorities, including the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and the Jharkhand Legal Services Authority.
The high court directed the family to approach the Supreme Court after Kumar had exhausted other options.
“We are of the view that a talented student like the petitioner who belongs to a marginalised group who did all to secure admission should not be left out…,”the court remarked.