India / Take humanitarian path: Supreme Court tells IIT-B to create seat for Dalit boy

New Delhi: Stating that it would be a “great travesty of justice” to deny opportunities to a meritorious Dalit boy, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay to create an extra seat for the 17-year-old candidate, who lost his berth at the prestigious institute for failing to make online fee payment in time because of a technical glitch.

A bench of justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and AS Bopanna directed IIT Bombay to create a supernumerary seat for Prince Jaibir Singh and complete the process of his admission by Wednesday.

Issuing its directive under Article 142 of the Constitution (authority to issue orders to do complete justice), the top court made it clear that no other student shall be displaced while accommodating Singh and that his admission shall be regularised in future in the event of some other student leaving the Bachelor of Technology (BTech) course midway.

“This court has before it a Dalit student who is on verge of losing a valued seat allocated to him at IIT Bombay. The travails of the appellant have taken him from Allahabad, where he is presently studying, to Kharagpur and then to Bombay and eventually to the national capital...Having regard to the facts of the case, it will be travesty of justice for a young Dalit student who has finally come to this court to be turned away,” the court stated in its order.

During the proceedings, the bench also urged the IIT management to have a “more robust system” so that students hailing from rural areas do not miss out on opportunities just because they may not have a superior banking facility or multiple debit or credit cards.

“What about students from small villages, small towns where there may not be such banking facilities available with the child? Not everybody would have multiple credit cards! There may be instances of the bank not responding. Some modality is needed to deal with such cases. Students spend years and years preparing. There has to be some buffer for students facing insurmountable hurdles! Otherwise, only children from metropolitan cities would go to IIT,” the bench told advocate Sonal Jain, who appeared for IIT.

The bench noted that Singh, who secured the 864th rank in the scheduled caste category and was being allotted a seat at the prestigious IIT Bombay for a BTech course in civil engineering, would not forego the opportunity had it not been for some genuine difficulties in arranging the acceptance fees.

“It is elementary common sense. Which student would get into IIT Bombay and not pay ₹50,000 fee? It is obvious that he had some financial problems. You have to look at what the reality on the ground is – the reality of our social life...Look at his background. This is a different case. You cannot be wooden like this,” commented the bench.

On Thursday, the bench observed that a young Dalit boy like Singh can be a leader of the nation in the future, imploring the IIT management to locate a seat for him at any one of the seven IITs.

It took note that Singh, who is from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, completed all other formalities on the admission portal on October 29, but could not deposit the seat acceptance fees as he was short of money. After his sister transferred the money into his account on October 30, he made several attempts to make the payment online, but failed to do so till 12 noon on October 31, which was the deadline, due to technical errors.

When the proceedings resumed on Monday, Jain said there was no seat available in any of the IITs and the apex court may instead pass an order under Article 142 for the creation of a supernumerary position for Singh.

Irked by this submission, the bench retorted: “You cannot throw up your hands like this. Deal with him with a humanitarian approach. You can do everything if it fits you. This is only bureaucracy. Speak to your chairperson and find a way out.”

Later, Jain returned to the court but reiterated the IIT’s inability to accommodate Singh.

Resolute to give relief to the boy, the top court invoked its extraordinary power under Article 142 and ordered for the creation of an extra seat at IIT Bombay for Singh.

Singh initially moved the Bombay high court, contending that he secured an all-India rank of 25,894 and scheduled caste rank of 864 in the JEE Advanced and was allotted the seat at IIT Bombay. He said after failing to clear the seat acceptance fees by the deadline, he went to the authorities concerned on November 1, and requested them to allow him to make the payment. But IIT officials expressed their inability to help him.

The high court on November 12 declined to give him any relief. It held that Singh “has entailed the consequence of rejection” because he failed to register his grievances before the deadline.