He lost IIT seat by minutes, then fought for 3 months to get it back

Diwali arrived a month early in Titora on September 30 when Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud told 18-year-old Atul Kumar: “All the best, achha kariye [do well].” It was a sweet end to three months of struggle. The Supreme Court had salvaged Atul’s BTech seat at IIT Dhanbad that he had lost to a technical glitch on the last day for depositing fees in June this year. For Titora, a village in western UP’s Muzaffarnagar district, about 100km from Delhi, the denial had meant collective heartbreak. Everyone chipped inAtul is a Dalit and his family is not well-off. They have their own house (built with a grant under the PM Awas scheme), a buffalo and a cow, but their monthly earnings are meagre. Atul’s father Rajendra Kumar works at a cloth factory in Meerut and makes Rs 450 per day. His mother Rajesh Devi supplements the family income by toiling in the fields and making string cots. But the cost of educating four sons, three of whom will become engineers, has left the parents deep in debt. That’s why other residents of the village had dipped into their savings to help Atul pay his fees, hours before the deadline. Atul’s IIT admission fee was “just” Rs 17,500 — the way an urban middle-class family would see it — but for his family it was a lot. “It was a huge amount for us,” said Rajendra. When his second son, Rohit, got a seat at IIT-Kharagpur, Rajendra had pledged his house and farm as collateral to get him an educational loan of Rs 2 lakh. He had also borrowed Rs 3 lakh from friends and relatives over the years to pay for his sons’ education. medium113871366medium nocaption113880362Four days to pay up Rajendra would have paid Atul’s fee too, but the four-day window to deposit it stumped him. Atul’s JEE (Advanced) rank was 1,455 in his reserved category, and he was allotted a seat in IIT Dhanbad’s electrical engineering course. But the institute’s letter arrived on June 20 and the deadline to pay the fee was June 24. “We didn’t know we would get only a few days to pay the fee,” said Rajendra.Long wait for laddusWhen the SC ruled in favour of Atul, his mother fed laddus to every visitor, but three very hard months lay behind that celebration.By 4.45pm on June 24, Rajendra had adequate funds to pay IIT Dhanbad’s fee, but the admission portal closed at 5pm, before Atul could upload all his documents. And just like that, the doors of all IITs closed on the boy forever, as all candidates, regardless of category, are allowed only two JEE (Advanced) attempts. Atul had used up his second and final chance this year. The family promptly approached the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, but it said it couldn’t help. Then Atul sought the Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority’s help because he had appeared for JEE at a centre in Jharkhand. The legal services body advised him to approach Madras High Court because IIT Madras had conducted JEE this time. The high court directed him to the Supreme Court.Through all this, Rajendra was undeterred: “We have only one goal — to educate our four sons, no matter the cost,” he told TOI+, adding, “I was prepared to knock on every door for my son’s education.”medium113871672medium nocaption113880379What the SC said“We are of the view that a talented student like the petitioner (Atul) who belongs to a marginalised group, who did all to secure admission, should not be left out... we direct that candidate is granted admission to IIT Dhanbad and let him be in the same batch to which he would have been granted admission if the fees would have been paid,” CJI Chandrachud said.The top court used its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution that empower it to pass any order in the interest of justice.“The login details indicate that he was diligent to log into the portal. There was no considerable reason why the petitioner would have done so if he didn’t have the fees to pay,” the court observed.“He is such a bright student. The only thing that stopped him was Rs 17,500,” the CJI added.medium nocaption113880387Tears of gratitudeAfter Monday’s verdict, a tearful Rajendra spoke to TOI+ on the phone. “This is the reward of my son’s hard work. We had full faith in the Supreme Court and were confident that the chief justice would help us. I have no words to express my gratitude to the SC.”“Thank God and thanks to the Supreme Court for saving my future. Now, I see the path ahead to help me realise my dream of becoming an engineer,” said Atul. “I have been provided a seat. I am very happy. The court said my seat could not be snatched away solely due to a financial problem. The train that had derailed is back on track now.” Watch: Celebrations in Titora as family celebrates verdictmedium nocaption113871539In Titora, Rajesh Devi raised a cry of “Supreme Court zindabad”. The village had prayed for Rajendra and Atul’s success when they started for Delhi on Monday morning. Late evening, it was up, awaiting their return by the 10pm train. “As soon as we got to know about the SC’s order, we all gathered around their house,” said Pawan Kumar, a neighbour who had lent Atul Rs 10,000 for the fee. “We hope that our children too grow up and make something of themselves (like Atul and his brothers),” he added.Rajesh Devi said, “The entire village was with us during our struggle and it’s only fair that they join in our celebration as well.” Potatoes now, paneer later“For years, we’ve cut back on everything. We stopped buying new clothes unless it was absolutely necessary. We plan our meals with cost, not taste, in mind. We make do with potatoes because paneer is a luxury we cannot afford,” Rajendra said. “But I believe — I have to believe — that better days lie ahead,” he added.With one son finishing MTech, another in the final year of BTech, and a third starting on the same road, Rajendra’s belief seems well-founded.