ATUL KUMAR Vs. CHAIRMAN (JOINT SEAT ALLOCATION AUTHORITY)

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is a meritorious student. He belongs to the Scheduled Caste category. He appeared for the JEE (Advanced) 2024 Examination and secured a rank of 1455 in his category. He was allotted a seat at the Indian Institute of Technology Dhanbad for a four year Bachelor of Technology course in Electrical Engineering. This was the second attempt and, therefore, the last chance for the petitioner to secure admission since only two attempts are permissible. The petitioner has disclosed that his father is a daily wager. The petitioner completed his higher secondary education from Khatauli, District Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. The family income is below the poverty line.

(2.) The time frame for the completion of online reporting, including the payment of fees and uploading of documents was till 5 pm on 24/6/2024. The petitioner has stated that his parents arranged the funds required for the payment of fees. The fees were deposited in his brother's account by 4.45 pm. The petitioner states that he logged into the portal of the first respondent at 4.45 pm and applied in the 'float category' of admission and uploaded the documents. The portal closed at 5 pm and his payment was not processed.

(3.) The petitioner thereafter addressed an email to the first respondent. A response was received on 26/6/2024 from the IIT Bombay Office for JEE (Advanced) redirecting the candidate to the organizing IIT, which is IIT Madras. Eventually, these attempts did not bear any fruit.