Scholarship Of EWS Student With Cost Of ₹50,000: DHC Directs Ministry of Science & Technology

The Delhi High Court today directed a plea filed by a student of the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) to the Ministry of Science and Technology to release his scholarship to ₹60,000/- at a simple interest of 6% along with the cost to the tune of ₹50,000/-.

The petitioner sought directions in this matter from the Court to the respondent to release or pay 3rd installment of scholarship under INSPIRE scheme and compensation & damages for the mental harassment and loss of his career.

A Single Bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh stated that “In the overall facts and circumstances of the case, considering that the annual scholarship for the Petitioner was Rs.60,000/-, the third year’s scholarship amount i.e., Rs.60,000/- along with the simple interest of 6% is directed to be released to the Petitioner. In addition, costs are also awarded to the Petitioner to the tune of Rs.50,000/-. The said amount shall be paid by the Respondents.”

The Bench has further directed the respondent to release the amounts within a period of eight weeks.
Advocate Sunil Kumar Singh and Advocate Mukti Singh appeared for the petitioner while CGSC Bhagavan Swarup Shukla and Advocate Vikrant appeared for the respondent.

In this case, the Petitioner gave a certificate from the Madhya Pradesh Secondary Examination Board as being eligible for a scholarship for higher education under the INSPIRE Scheme. He took admission for B.Sc. (Hons.) Mathematics at Delhi University. The respondent i.e., the Ministry of Science and Technology offered him the INSPIRE Scholarship vide letter and the petitioner was disbursed the Scholarship amount for the first & second years.

However, the scholarship was withheld for the 3rd year on the ground that he did not score a 6.0 CGPA in the 2nd year. The petitioner stated that he secured more than a 6.0 CGPA in the 2nd year and hence could not have been deprived of the scholarship for the 3rd year.

He thereafter made an application to the respondent vide e-mail seeking disbursement of the scholarship but the reply which was received was that his marks were below the 6 CGPA.

The High Court after hearing the contentions of both parties noted that “The transcripts of the Petitioner which have been placed on record show that the CGPA of the Petitioner for the first and the second semester was 7.45 and for the third and four semesters was 6.32. Thus, in the first year, the Petitioner scored a 7.45 CGPA and in the second year, he scored a 6.32 CGPA. Thus, the stand of the Respondent that the Petitioner did not score 6 CGPA would not be correct.”

The Court observed that there was no mention in the Post Offer Implementation Guidelines for Scholars or in the INSPIRE Scheme that a 6.0 CGPA is required in the core subjects and thus, the rejection/ non-grant of scholarship to the petitioner is completely untenable.

The court further stated that “The Petitioner is from an economically weaker section and had to discontinue studies after B.Sc. due to non-award of the scholarship. Further, it is submitted that due to his CGPA, he was fully qualified to obtain admission into the M.Sc. (Mathematics) which he could not pursue due to rejection/ non-continuation of scholarship.”

The Court, therefore, issued necessary directions to the respondent and disposed of the plea.