Rs 17,500. That’s the fee that a Dalit student had to pay to secure his admission into the prestigious IIT Dhanbad. The Uttar Pradesh student had four days to submit the fee. The student’s father, a daily wage labourer, tried all he could, but missed the fee deadline by a whisker. He then took the fight to courts.

For three months, the father did the rounds of the SC/ST Commission, the Jharkhand and Madras High Courts. In the end, when nothing worked, he approached the Supreme Court.

“We cannot allow such a young talented boy to go away. He cannot be left in lurch. He went to Jharkhand Legal Services Authority. Then to Chennai Legal Services Authority and then he is sent to High Court. He is a Dalit boy being made to run from pillar to post,” said Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, ordering the IIT to admit the student.

“We are of the view that a talented student like the petitioner 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,” the bench said in its order.

The petitioner’s counsel said the student’s father earns Rs 450 daily. “The task of arranging 17,500 is a big deal. He collected money from villagers.”

“The only thing that stopped him from paying was the inability to pay and as the Supreme Court of India, we need to see that,” the Chief Justice said.

The top court used its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution in asking the IIT Dhanbad to admit Atul Kumar into its Electrical Engineering BTech course. Article 142 of the Constitution empowers the top court to pass any order in the interest of justice.

“All the best. Achha kariye (Do well),” the Chief Justice told the 18-year-old student, who comes from a village in Muzaffarnagar district of UP.

A relieved Atul said the “derailed train is back on track now“.

“I have been provided with the 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,” he said with a smile. Atul said he was hopeful of getting help from the top court. 

Asked what lies ahead, he replied, “I will work hard and become an electrical engineer from IIT-Dhanbad.”

What Parents Went Through

The parents of Atul Kumar failed to deposit Rs 17,500 as the acceptance fee by 5 pm on June 24, the deadline for depositing the fee for blocking the seat.

The student’s father managed to crowdsource the amount by 4:45 pm on the last day. As Atul began uploading his documents, the time for submission of fee was up. A dream crushed, the family regrouped and took the legal route. 

As the student wrote the exam at a centre in Jharkhand, he approached the Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority which suggested him to approach the Madras High Court as it was IIT Madras that had conducted the exam.

The high court, in turn, asked him to approach the top court.

Atul Kumar was all smiles as he walked out of the Supreme Court this afternoon. A short while back, a bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud used its extraordinary powers to ask IIT Dhanbad to admit Atul Kumar to its electrical engineering course.

The 18-year-old Dalit youth from Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar cracked the difficult entrance exam to the country’s most coveted engineering course this year. He is from a family below poverty line and his father, a daily-wage labourer, could not arrange the Rs 17,500 admission fee in time to block the seat.

Atul then ran from pillar to post to save the hard-earned seat. He approached the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, but the panel said it cannot help. Atul also went to the Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority because he had taken the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) at a centre in Jharkhand. The legal services body suggested he approach the Madras High Court because IIT Madras had conducted JEE this time. The high court then asked him to approach the Supreme Court where he got relief.

“I have been provided with the 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,” he said with a smile. Atul said he was hopeful of getting help from the top court. Asked what lies ahead, he replied, “I will work hard and become an electrical engineer from IIT-Dhanbad.”

Earlier, the Chief Justice-led bench said it cannot allow such a talent to be wasted. “He went to Jharkhand Legal Services Authority. Then he is (sent) to Chennai legal services and then to the high court. He is a Dalit boy, he is being made to run from pillar to post,” the bench said.

The petitioner’s counsel said Atul’s father earns Rs 450 daily. “The task of arranging 17,500 is a big deal. He collected money from villagers.”

“The only thing that stopped him from paying was the inability to pay and as the Supreme Court of India, we need to see that,” the Chief Justice said.

The court used its extraordinary powers under Article 142 to ask IIT Dhanbad to grant admission to Atul in the same batch. “No existing student be disturbed and let a supernumerary seat be created for the candidate,” the bench said. The Chief Justice wished Atul: “All the best. achha kariye!”

A 42-year-old man, who was working as an area manager with Bajaj Finance, has died by suicide in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi. Tarun Saxena has said in a note that his seniors at work had been pressuring him to meet his targets for the past two months and threatening him with salary deductions. Bajaj Finance is yet to respond to the allegations.

Tarun was found dead this morning by the house help. He had locked his wife and two children in another room. He is survived by his parents, wife Megha and children Yatharth and Pihu.

In a five-page letter addressed to his wife, Tarun wrote that he was under immense stress because he could not meet targets despite trying his best. Tarun was tasked with the collection of EMIs of Bajaj Finance loans from his area, but was falling short of targets due to several issues. He also said he was worried he may lose his job. He wrote that his seniors repeatedly humiliated him. “I am very tense about the future. I have lost my ability to think. I am going.”

Tarun has said he and his colleagues were made to pay for the EMIs they could not recover from their area. He wrote that he had repeatedly raised the problems faced in recovery with his seniors, but they were not ready to listen to him. “I have not slept for 45 days. I have hardly eaten. I am under a lot of stress. Senior managers are pressuring me to meet targets at any cost or quit.”

Tarun also wrote that he had paid his children’s school fees till year-end and apologised to his family members. “You all take care of Megha, Yatharth and Pihu. Mummy, Papa, I have never asked for anything, but am doing so now. Please get the second floor built so that my family can stay comfortably,” he said.

He asked his children to study well and take care of their mother. He asked his relatives to ensure his family gets the insurance money. He also named his seniors and asked his family to register a police complaint against them. “They are responsible for my decision.”

Tarun’s cousin Gaurav Saxena, who lives nearby, said he was being pressured to increase the recovery of loans. “At a video conference at 6 am today, his seniors built the mental pressure. They said he cannot work and he must be sacked. He has named them in his suicide note.”

Senior police officer Vinod Kumar Gautam said they are getting the post-mortem note. “The suicide note says his seniors were pressuring him over the targets. If we get a complaint from the family, we will take action.”

Tarun Saxena’s death by suicide and his letter blaming his senior managers come amid a nationwide conversation over toxic work culture in the aftermath of the death of a 26-year-old chartered accountant Anna Sebastian Perayil.

Earlier this month, a letter by Anna’s mother Anita Augustine sparked massive outrage on social media. In a letter to Ernst & Young India chairman Rajiv Memani, she wrote that her daughter died just four months after joining the company and called on its leadership to change a work culture that “seems to glorify overwork while neglecting the very human being behind the role”. She wrote that Anna worked late into the night, even on weekends, “with no opportunity to catch her breath”.

Mr Memani responded that he was “deeply saddened”. “I am deeply saddened and as a father, I can only imagine Ms Augustine’s grief. I have conveyed my deepest condolences to the family, although nothing can fill the void in their lives.”

The EY India Chairman said he was aware that people had commented on some of the company’s work practices on social media. “I would like to affirm that the well-being of our people is my top-most priority and I will personally champion this objective. I am absolutely committed to nurturing a harmonious workplace, and I will not rest until that objective is accomplished,” he said in a LinkedIn post. Amid the uproar over Anit Augustine’s letter, the Union Labour ministry has launched a probe into the circumstances leading to her daughter’s delay.