In his petition to the Supreme Court, the student has sought guidance from the IIT to consider his case.
Mumbai:
An 18-year-old student lost his seat for a four-year electrical engineering course at IIT Bombay after he “inadvertently” clicked on an “incorrect” link that he was destined to withdraw from the process.
The student, Siddhant Batra from Agra, approached the Supreme Court seeking instructions for the institution to admit him after the IIT said he cannot intervene at this stage as all the course seats were full and had to be followed the admission rules. He said Batra could apply again next year for JEE (Advanced).
The Bombay High Court had initially ordered the IIT to consider Mr. Batra’s petition, after it addressed it earlier this month, as a proxy and approve the corresponding orders.
Mr. Batra, who had achieved the All India (AIR) rank of 270 on the JEE Advanced exams and secured admission, claimed in his plea that he had clicked on the wrong link that he should remove his seat. Mr. Batra intended to freeze the seat, the plea said.
On November 23, a division bank of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Judge GS Kulkarni dismissed Batra’s petition, noting that IIT had considered his representation and approved his order.
In his petition to the Supreme Court, Mr. Batra requested instructions from the IIT to consider his case on humanitarian grounds, and requested the creation of an additional entry to undo his loss.
Batra, who lives with her grandparents after the death of her parents, said in the guilty plea that she had worked hard through thick and thin to pass the IIT JEE exams.
The petition, filed through attorney Pralhad Paranjpe, said that Batra had lost his father as a child and was raised by his mother, who passed away in 2018.
According to your request, Mr. Batra, while completing the online admission process, came across a page with the option “freeze”, which he thought meant confirming the entry and the completion of his admission process.
“On October 31, 2020, when Batra was browsing the IIT portal to check for more updates, he came across a link containing a statement that said ” I would like to withdraw from the JoSAA (Joint Assignment Authority) seating process. Seats), ” the petition read.
According to the statement, Mr. Batra inadvertently clicked on this link and declared “IIT Bombay, Electrical Engineering” as grounds for the withdrawal. He added that Mr. Batra never intended to withdraw his admission.
In November 2020, when the final list of students was uploaded to the IIT portal, Mr. Batra’s name was not included.
The IIT, in its order, however, said that the withdrawal option was a “conscious” two-step process.
He said candidates who want to withdraw before the final round can do so and the “seat acceptance fee” will be refunded, adding that once a candidate has withdrawn, their seat is canceled.
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