IIT Bombay declines seat to PG candidate who cleared test – Times of India

MUMBAI: IIT Bombay has said that its admission process to a masters of design (MDes) course was error-free and held that a “negligent” 23-year-old was “not entitled” to creation of a supernumerary seat either in this or the next academic year.
Navi Mumbai resident Prathamesh Pedamkar, despite selection under a reserved category, lost his seat for 2020-21 for not paying his fees on time by August 6; he said he never got the selection email. The IIT said the candidate alone was “negligent” as was “proved”, since despite its clear instruction, he did not check the IIT portal for admission updates.
But as “relief” to him since IIT said he was “qualified for admission in the SC category in this academic year” the institute extended the validity of his Common Entrance Examination in Design (CEED) score to 2021-22. The relief would mean that Pedamkar can directly join the admission process but would still have to participate in further rounds which may include written tests and interviews. For MDes 2020-21, he went through a rigorous process starting with CEED in January 2020, followed by an interview.
Pedamkar even received a teaching assistantship, he learnt later when the IIT “forwarded” him the offer letter that he said never reached him during the process. IIT said Pedamkar was not the only one who did not receive the ‘admission offer letter’ via email, and 18 other candidates out of 73 had not, too. But “pertinently 14 of them visited the portal, paid their fees and confirmed the seat”.
IIT extended its CEED exemption to “other similarly placed” MDes 20-21 candidates, but clarified that it was not a precedent-setting decision.
Pedamkar told TOI that he received IIT’s December 22 decision and would now “decide what to do next”. IIT held that it had “neither discriminated” nor acted “carelessly or arbitrarily” towards the candidate. The IIT decision comes after the Bombay high court on October 23 while disposing of a petition filed by Pedamkar’s lawyer Ashraf Shaikh for admission, held that both the aspiring student and IIT had “contributed in equal measure” and directed the IIT director to “explore the possibility of making a special provision” for him, “bearing in mind that rectification of an error would enhance the image and prestige of the Institute”.
The IIT’s board of governors (BOG), which deliberated on Pedamkar’s predicament in its November 27 meeting, said “negligent candidate should not get fruits of his negligent behaviour”. The decision, signed by IIT-B director Subhasis Chaudhuri, said that if granted admission now, it “will create discrimination on the other category students”. It said, “Even presuming… he has a right to get a confirmed seat for the forthcoming academic year” it would “violate principle of fairness enshrined in the Indian Constitution” and would be unfair to other competing candidates. IIT said it is bound by the reservation policy made by the Central government but lacks “legal power” to create a supernumerary seat.
Pedamkar said in July he was told, “if selected, the admission offer letter will be sent to you by email”. Hence, he waited for it. But IIT says the sentence that followed was, “However, a specimen copy will be available on the IIT Bombay website” with ‘however’ being used as an ‘adverb’ thus making it clear that he had to refer to the IIT-B portal, as also specified in another email and in the brochure.