On Monday, September 30, the Supreme Court granted relief to a Dalit student who lost his admission to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Dhanbad because of a slight delay in paying the online admission fee. The student had missed the payment deadline of Rs 17,500/- by a few minutes.

A bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, directed that the student be admitted to the Electrical Engineering course at IIT Dhanbad. The Court ordered that a supernumerary seat be created to accommodate the student, ensuring no other student's admission is affected.

The petitioner, a son of a daily wage worker from Uttar Pradesh, belongs to a family below the poverty line. He managed to gather the required Rs 17,500/- with the help of villagers by 4:45 PM on June 24 but was unable to complete the online payment before the 5:00 PM deadline.

The counsel for the IIT Seat Allocation Authority argued that the student had logged in by 3:00 PM and had received several reminders about the payment deadline. However, the Court did not accept this argument and emphasized that efforts should be made to provide relief in such cases.

The petitioner's counsel explained that the student’s father earns only Rs 450/- a day, and collecting the money had been a significant challenge, leading to the delay. The Court noted that there was no reason for the petitioner not to pay if he had the necessary funds in time.

The Court ordered that the student pay the Rs 17,500/- in person and be admitted to the current batch, with all associated benefits such as hostel admission.