Had lost seat due to non-payment of fees, SC supported Dalit student, ordered to give admission to IIT Dhanbad

The Supreme Court on Monday asked IIT Dhanbad to admit a Dalit student in the BTech course who lost his seat for missing the fee deposit deadline. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra said that we cannot let such a talented youth go. It cannot be left in the lurch.

The Supreme Court, using its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, ordered IIT Dhanbad to admit Atul Kumar in the B.Tech course. Atul wants to do B.Tech in Electrical Engineering. The top court said in its order- We believe that a talented student like the petitioner should not be deprived. Especially the student who is from a deprived group and who tried everything possible to get admission.

Let us tell you that the parents of 18 year old Atul Kumar had failed to deposit Rs 17,500 as acceptance fee by June 24. June 24 was the last date for depositing the required fee to reserve a seat. The Supreme Court said- We direct that the candidate should be admitted to IIT Dhanbad and he should be allowed to remain in the same batch in which he would have got admission had he paid the fees.

Article 142 of the Constitution empowers the Supreme Court to pass any order in the interest of justice. The Supreme Court passed the order using this authority. Atul Kumar’s father is a daily wage labourer. His family lives in Titora village of Muzaffarnagar district of UP. He comes from a Below Poverty Line (BPL) family.

Earlier, Atul Kumar’s parents had also approached the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, Jharkhand Legal Services Authority and Madras High Court to save the hard-earned seat. The National Commission for Scheduled Castes had expressed its inability to help Atul. Atul had also approached the Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority, from where he was advised to approach the Madras High Court, as IIT Madras had conducted the examination.