How this student with all-India JEE rank 270 lost a seat in IIT Bombay – Moneycontrol

An 18-year-old student, who had scored an all-India rank of 270 in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) to secure a seat of his choice in BTech electrical engineering at IIT Bombay, lost the seat within a fortnight.

Siddhanth Batra, who hails from Agra, had been accepted into IIT Bombay in the first round on October 18 itself. However, on October 31, he reportedly clicked on a link saying ‘withdraw from seat allocation and further rounds’ while looking for updates on his roll number.

According to a report by The Times of India, he said he clicked on the link as it was his “bona fide” belief that he was not required in subsequent rounds as his seat was already confirmed.

On November 10, he found his name missing from the list of students admitted to the BTech course. IIT Bombay said his action had led to his admission getting cancelled even as Batra claimed it was an “inadvertent and unknowing” error.

Based on a petition from Batra, the Bombay High Court ordered IIT Bombay to consider the appeal. On November 23, with two days to go for the last date of late registration, IIT Bombay rejected Batra’s plea.

IIT Bombay cited its ‘rules of business’ and said it did not have the authority to quash the “withdrawal letter”. It pointed out that the admission process was handled by the Joint Seat Allocation Authority alone.

The institution said it did not have a vacant seat and that Batra could apply next year. The 18-year-old, however, has reportedly moved the Supreme Court asking for an additional seat to be added.

In his plea, Batra, who was orphaned two years ago, has cited his achievement of making it to IIT Bombay and scoring an all-India JEE rank of 270 despite the odds he faced.