THE TOP COURT TO THE RESCUE OF A 17-YEAR-DALIT BOY WHO CRACKED IIT BUT FAILED TO SECURE A SEAT DUE TO A GLITCH

The Supreme Court rescued and helped a 17-year-old Dalit boy who qualified for the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay but missed a seat due to his pay seat acceptance fees on time due to some technological glitches.

The petitioner cleared the Joint Entrance Examination 2021 with an All India Rank of 25,894. On October 27th, he got a seat allocated at IIT Bombay in the Civil Engineering branch. On October 29,, he uploaded the required do October 2October 27ll short of money to pay the acceptance fee. The petitioner receOctober 29 October 29ister on October 30th and tried making the payment but failed due to a technical error at the end of his card, State Bank of India. HeOctober 30 October 30ays such as cyber cafes, emails, and physically reached IIT Kharagpur but that too did not bear fruition ultimately failed to make payment within the prescribed deadline. 

The petitioner then moved to Bombay HC seeking relief,, but the court dismissed the petitioner's writ and hence the present petition before the Top Court. 

A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna said that while the petitioner's case is weak on law, the Court has to show a humanitarian approach. "A Dalit boy cracked IIT Bombay. For all we know,, he could be a leader of our country ten years down the line," the judge added.

The bench directed the counsel appearing for the Central government to obtain details of the admission list of IIT Bombay and to examine whether the petitioner can be accommodated.

Justice Chandrachud further said that the case should not be used as a precedent.

Author: Papiha Ghoshal