December 31. A previous decision of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gauhati to rusticate a Scheduled Caste student on account of poor academic performance has been reversed by the High Court of the state. The Gauhati High Court has also instructed the institute to pay extra attention on the student to enable him to perform better.
The order given by Judge Achintya Malla Bujor Barua states the following “The petitioner be allowed to pursue his studies further. During the tenure of the opportunity given to the petitioner, the respondent in the IIT-G shall also give him extra care and attention, as provided by the Supreme Court, so as to enable him to perform better.”
Court orders the institute to give extra care and attention to the student
The petitioning student, Amit Kumar Khojwal, had cleared the Joint Entrance Exams (JEE) for IITs in 2011 and was admitted to the B.Tech degree course at IIT-G. His performance in the first semester was far below the minimum requirement (Cumulative Performance Index, i.e. CPI of 1.67 as against the required CPI of 4). Despite the fact that he could not score the minimum CPI of 4 in any of the first four semesters, he was allowed to register himself for the next semesters. In 2013, i.e. after the results of the 4th semester, IIT-G issued him a letter of termination. His initial appeal in response to the letter was disallowed but eventually the authorities allowed him to register for the fifth as well as the sixth semesters. He couldn’t perform well in either of the semesters. The same chain of events took place for the seventh and eighth semesters as well.
Petitioner had cited Supreme Court judgement on Avinash Singh Bagi and Ors. Vs Registrar of IIT Delhi
The Senate of IIT-G considered the petitioner’s claim to be reinstated at its 135th meeting held on September 7th this year but decided against it as he had failed to show any improvement over the years. The petitioning student moved the High Court citing the Supreme Court judgement of Avinash Singh Bagi and Ors. Vs Registrar of IIT Delhi claiming that he, being from the SC community is similarly situated as the petitioner of the particular case.
The Gauhati High Court stated that there was nothing on record to prove that the petitioner was given extra care and attention to improve his performance. IIT Gauhati has complied with the order and informed the student that he is given further opportunity to complete the course. The student has also been told that he must undertake all efforts required to successfully complete the course.