Delhi High Court directs Central government to grant scholarship to Scheduled Caste student from RGNUL Patiala

The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to grant a scholarship to a law student belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community under the Central Sector Scholarship Scheme of Top Class Education for SC Students [Bajrang v. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment & Anr]..Justice Prathiba M Singh gave the Ministry eight weeks' time to grant the scholarship to the law student, who studies at Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law (RGNUL), Patiala."A hyper technical approach obviously ought not to be taken in this matter. The Petitioner has also been diligent in replying, upon the discrepancies being pointed out by the Respondent. Thus, the Ministry ought to have considered the Petitioner’s candidature and ought not to have rejected the Petitioner’s application," the order stated.Any other benefits that may accrue to the law student upon the said grant shall also be extended to him, the Court said..The petitioner had contended that the Ministry had rejected his application upon verification, through an email dated September 23, 2021, citing that his income tax return certificate was invalid.Upon receiving the rejection email, the law student on October 18, 2021 addressed a reply along with the income certificate for processing of his application. The Ministry then replied that the scholarship was being processed. However, the Ministry eventually took the stand that the change of documents would not be permissible, as it would change the merit list. Thus, the scholarship application was rejected. The petitioner subsequently applied for the scholarship in his second year, and his candidature was found eligible. However, he was not granted any scholarship, prompting him to move the High Court..Counsel for the law student argued that the authorities cannot take a hyper-technical approach when it comes to scholarships and similar schemes.He further submitted that the University itself does not doubt the entitlement and eligibility of the candidate, and that there are no discrepancies between the income tax return certificate and the income certificate, as the same would be evident from the income tax computation form..Counsel for the Central government opposed the petitioner's contentions, arguing that the document was wrongly submitted.The four slots allotted to the University for scholarship students have already been exhausted and the same have been released to other candidates, he submitted..However, the Court noted that the purpose and intent of the Scheme is to empower the students of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities to avail top-class education opportunities. Further, the law student was found to be meritorious by the University in the first year and the second year."Mere discrepancy in filing the Income Tax Return instead of the Income Certificate, despite the two documents evidencing the same parameters of income requirements, cannot lead to a situation where an eligible meritorious candidate is deprived of the scholarship," the Court said..The student was represented by Advocates Amit George, Amol Acharya, Rayadurgam Bharat, P Harold Jaimon and Arokenil Bhamick.The Ministry was represented by Advocates Vivek Goyal and Gokul Sharma, while Advocates Mukesh Kumar Singh and Chanduakant Sukuman Sarkar appeared for the University..[Read Order]