IIT Admissions: Bombay HC Asks Institutes To Consider Allotting Vacant Seats To Aspirants Who Cleared 1st Counselling Round But Couldn't Deposit Fees

The bench of Justice S.V. Gangapurwala and Justice R. N. Laddha considered that the petitioners are bright students who were allotted seats in the first rounds only due to their merits and stated –

"…if during the 6th round after all students have taken admission, if there are some seats vacant, the respondent No.2 may consider the petitioners for admission without impinging upon the rights of any other students."

In the first round of allotment, one of the petitioners had gotten seat in IIT Bombay and the other had gotten a seat in IIT Gandhinagar. However, they did not pay the seat acceptance fee. They were not considered for subsequent counselling rounds.

The petitioners filed writ petitions seeking permission to participate in 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th, rounds of seat allotment for admission to IITs.

Advocate Pralhad Paranjape for the petitioners submitted that the petitioners could not pay the fees despite multiple efforts, due to technical glitches. They are entitled to the seats on merits. However, they were automatically exited from subsequent rounds of seat allocation because of non-payment of seat acceptance fee. It would be too harsh to deny them to participate in subsequent rounds as the students are bright and have cleared the JEE (Advanced) examination.

Advocate Arjun Mitra for the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) and the IITs submitted that the petitioners had to accept the seat, upload the documents, and pay the seat acceptance fee as per the notified Business Rules. They had time from September 23 to September 26, 2022 to complete the process. They did not contact JoSAA about the alleged technical glitch.

He further said that the seats have been allotted and accepted by other candidates; no seats are available in IIT Gandhinagar and IIT Bombay for the petitioners. Seats available in the fifth round would be allotted as per Business Rules to next deserving candidates.

The court said that the only reasons submitted by the petitioners for not paying the fees is technical glitch. They had three days' time but they failed to diligently exercise their rights.

The court held that the Business Rules would be applicable uniformly to all parties. The seats allotted to the petitioners have already been given to other candidates and cannot be dislodged.

However, the court appreciated the contention that the petitioners have studied hard to clear the JEE Advanced examination. Securing seats in the first round demonstrates that they are meritorious students, the court said.

The court did not allow the petitioners to participate in the subsequent seat allocation rounds. However, it asked the IITs to consider admitting them if any seats remain vacant.

Case no. – Writ Petition (L) Nos. 31857 and 31858 of 2022

Case title – Bharat Bhusan v. The Chairman, Joint Seat Allocation Authority and Ors. with connected matter

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Bom) 396