Muzaffarnagar: Atul Kumar is finally on a train to Jharkhand, where he will begin his next journey—at IIT Dhanbad. But this coveted IIT seat he is travelling to didn’t come easy—and was almost lost.
Since 24 June, Atul and his father Rajendra, who are from the Dalit community, have been spending nights at railway stations and days in lawyers’ chambers and courtrooms in Ranchi and Chennai. On Friday, at 5.40 pm, Atul boarded the train from Delhi, days after moving from shop to shop in his hometown buying clothes, books, and a OnePlus phone.
This happy ending to a three-month fight came with the intervention of the Supreme Court. On 30 September, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud ordered IIT Dhanbad to restore Atul’s admission after he missed the deadline to pay the Rs 17,500 acceptance fee by just a few seconds. For Rajendra Kumar, a daily wage labourer earning Rs 450 a day at a Meerut factory, this amount was huge. But it was also his son’s last shot at becoming an engineer.
“IIT was my dream. We had nothing to lose; we just wanted to get this seat back at any cost,” Atul said.
It took an army of professors, students, and alumni of several IITs to help him navigate the legal labyrinth. It worked in his favour that his two elder brothers are enrolled in IIT Kharagpur and NIT Hamirpur.
“Google helped as well,” Atul said with a grin.
His triumph in cracking the JEE quickly curdled when he learned he had lost his seat. But a quick Google search revealed a similar case from 2021—Prince Jaibir.
“His case became a ray of hope for us,” Atul said.
The legal battle and the family’s never-give-up attitude have brought journalists from around the country to Atul’s home in Titoly village. The phone hasn’t stopped ringing. Even IIT professors have reached out. There’s a box of laddu in the family’s two-bedroom house for the steady stream of neighbours and relatives. Charitable organisations, well-wishers and even the Uttar Pradesh government are now lining up to fund his education.
“Our house, which was quiet for almost three months during the [court] hearings, has been filled with people for the past three days. It feels good to see all this, knowing that we didn’t give up this fight,” said Atul’s brother, Amit Kumar, holding a box of sweets that he distributes to visitors, including journalists.
Atul has one immediate goal—to get to IIT Dhanbad and catch up with his classmates. He is filled with excitement and ready to make up for lost time.
“Until 30 September, nobody in our house even smiled, let alone laughed. Meals were often not prepared,” said his mother, Rajesh (40), who has spent the last four days making tea for guests.
Now, the family can’t stop celebrating.
A ray of hope—end of a battle
Throughout this legal journey, the support of many people and the internet played significant roles.
“I searched for information—what to do when fees are declined, what is legal aid, and how to contact an advocate for educational cases,” Atul said. But it was the discovery of Prince Jaibir’s story that turned the tide for the family.
In 2021, the Supreme Court allowed Prince, also from the Dalit community, to enroll at IIT Bombay despite a delay in submitting his fee due to a technical glitch. Incidentally, the bench that heard Prince’s case was led by Justice Chandrachud.
“I contacted Prince to ask about his process and decided to take our case to the Supreme Court,” Atul said.
On 30 September, a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra invoked Article 142 of the Constitution to grant Atul admission to IIT Dhanbad. The Supreme Court ordered the institute to admit him to the same batch of the electrical engineering BTech programme that he would have joined if he had paid his fees on time.
The lawyers representing Atul’s case, Amol Chitale and Pragya Baghel, who had also handled the Prince Jaibir case, were uncertain about the outcome as college counselling had already closed. However, they became optimistic when the case reached Justice Chandrachud.
The CJI was clear that the institute cannot deprive Atul a seat since he intended to pay the fee.
Becoming an IITian like his elder brother was Atul’s dream since Class 9. After a year of hard work, and one unsuccessful attempt, he scored 94 per cent in JEE (Advanced) and secured 1,455 rank. That was on 9 June. Next came the task of arranging the Rs 17,500 acceptance fee by 24 June.
A local moneylender agreed to help Rajendra but backed on the final day—two hours before the deadline.
Neighbours and relatives quickly came together to pool the money—one person alone contributed Rs 10,000—while Rajendra used his savings of Rs 3,500. But before Atul could submit the details, the portal closed—and with that, his dream of getting into IIT.
A few days passed with the family still in shock. And then Atul hit the internet. With the support of his brothers and coaching teacher, he first reached out to IIT Dhanbad, but they directed him to the Jharkhand Legal Services Authority. Since he had taken the JEE at a Jharkhand centre, he approached them for guidance. The legal services body then advised him to take his case to the Madras High Court, as IIT Madras had conducted the JEE this year.
“During that time, we were constantly on the move. My father and I would often share a single meal to save money, and sometimes we even had to sleep at railway stations,” Atul recalled.
Now, as the family celebrates the Supreme Court’s decision, Atul has vowed to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again.
When ThePrint met him on Thursday, he was anxious about catching up after missing two months of classes due to the legal battle, but the excitement of attending IIT Dhanbad took over.
“I will do everything I’ve dreamed of,” Atul said, clutching his Jharkhand ticket, eager to catch the train from Delhi. He checked the time printed on the ticket repeatedly: 5.40 pm.
“First, I’ll catch up on the syllabus I missed, then I’ll make new friends and have a lot of fun.”
Ready for any fight
The Kumars are bemused and overwhelmed by the publicity and media attention. Local politicians and Dalit groups have also stepped in to help the family. A group from the Samajwadi Babasaheb Ambedkar Vahini entered the house, claiming the family’s victory as their own.
“Someone else in their place would have given up, but this family fought the case until they won, which is a matter of great courage,” said Santosh Kumar, an IIT Delhi alumnus who travelled from Kanpur to support Atul with his tuition expenses.
“After the news spread that Atul almost lost his dream of studying at IIT, many people have come forward and promised to help cover his educational expenses,” Rajendra said, surveying the room. “I would have sold my land and house if necessary to secure this seat and support my son’s dream,” he added.
The room has a small bed in the corner, an old iron stitching machine under a tiny window, and brown plastic chairs for guests. Rajendra is determined that his children get a chance at the best universities. His eldest son, Mohit, is pursuing an MTech in chemical engineering from IIT Kharagpur, and his second son, Rohit, is completing his BTech in chemical engineering from NIT Hamirpur.
“I was inspired by my brothers,” Atul said, adding that his third brother, Amit, has decided to pursue BA in Hindi honours from Shri Kund Kund Jain Degree College in Khatauli, Muzaffarnagar.
While Atul has fought and won a long battle to IIT Dhanbad, he knows a tougher battle lies ahead once he reaches there: the real issue of caste discrimination. A recent survey at IIT Delhi revealed that while 75 percent of SC/ST/OBC students felt impacted by casteist comments, many from the General Category either shrugged it off or even agreed with such remarks. This shows the hurdles before Atul and others from marginalised backgrounds.
Still, Atul is ready to tackle whatever comes his way. “I have fought a big battle and won; now, whatever difficulty comes my way, I will fight it. These three months have prepared me for everything.”