In relief for SC student, HC upholds his eligibility for scholarship

The Bombay High Court upheld Scheduled Caste student Vaibhav Hiwale's eligibility for a scholarship at MNLU, criticizing procedural lapses by the college.

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Monday upheld the eligibility of student belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) category in scholarship to study in Maharashtra National Law University (MNLU). The student was denied a scholarship due to technical error and procedural delays by the college. The court, observing the student’s honest intentions, directed the authorities not to deny him access to the scholarship.

Bombay High Court

In 2019, 20-year-old Vaibhav Hiwale got a seat in Padmavati college, Aurangabad, in 2019, through Government of India Post-Matric Scholarship. The scholarship amount of ₹31,658 was credited to his account. He cancelled his admission on October 10, 2019, and got enrolled in MNLU on October 21, 2020. He refunded the scholarship amount on September 30, 2021, and applied for a fresh scholarship on October 4, 2021. However, MNLU rejected the application due to procedural lapses and citing a government resolution prohibiting dual benefits. Hiwale asserted he was eligible for fresh scholarship as he had reimbursed the previous scholarship amount which was credited to him. He alleged no proper verification was done and the procedure was not followed at Padmavati college’s office as well as its principal, resulting in procedural delays with his new scholarship application.

Counsel for MNLU said Hiwale is not eligible to claim scholarship as he abandoned the course at Padmavati college after benefitting from the scholarship. As he suppressed his earlier admission, and the scholarship granted to him, it made him liable to pay dues of ₹5,54,189 towards fees. MNLU clarified its non-objection towards awarding the scholarship to Hiwale, as long as he complies with the procedure of furnishing required documents.

Additional government pleader, PS Patil, argued on his ineligibility and submitted that Hiwale refunded the scholarship amount two years after he received it, which revealed lapses on his part.

The court observed that Hiwale, belonging to the SC category and holding a valid certificate, was entitled for fresh scholarship. It also acknowledged genuine intentions in his attempts to communicate with Padmavati college thrice regarding his cancellation of admission and refund of scholarship. Presided over by justices SG Mehare and Shailesh P Brahme, the court stated Hiwale is eligible to receive the Post-Matric Scholarship from the year 2021-2022 onwards, after furnishing the application with required documents. It directed the authorities to process his application based on merits and eligibility and not to insist on procedural technicalities.

The court criticised Padmavati college over its absolute failure in following the verification process. Moreover, considering Hiwale’s socio-economic background and his honest intentions, the court highlighted the importance of protecting his rights. “For some unmindful mistake, it would be too harsh to deprive the Petitioner of the entire scholarship of integrated five years course of BA LLB.”, the court added.