W.P.(C)/40/2024 of BINDUSAR Vs UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

$~8 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(C) 40/2024 BINDUSAR .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Furkan Ali Mirza, Mr. Shoaib Khan, Mr. Usman Khan, Mr.S.G. Rabbani, Ms. LubnaTanweer,Advs. versus UNION OF INDIA & ORS. .....Respondents Through: Mr Ravindra Kanth, Mr. NilmaniKant Das, Ms. Rachana Kumari, Advs. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JASMEET SINGH O R D E R % 07.01.2026 1. This is a petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking the following prayers: “i) Issue writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, orde r or directions, directing the Respondent No.2 to grant the fellowsh ip under National Fellowship for Scheduled Caste students. ii) Issue writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or directions, directing the Respondent No. 3 to release the fellow ship amount along with arrears from the date of declaration of result for the award of National Fellowship for Scheduled Students i.e. 19.02.2022. iii) Pass an order awarding compensation of Rs. 50,000/- (Rupees Fifty Thousand Only) for the mental harassment and for legal This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 12/01/2026 at 12:19:23 expenses incurred by the Petitioner.” 2. The brief facts of the case are that the petitioner belongs to the Scheduled Caste category and is pursuing Ph.D. from the Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University (“ AMU”), Aligarh. The respondent No. 1 introduced National Fellowship for Scheduled Caste Students (“ NFSC”) scheme for the benefit of Scheduled Caste students, respondent No. 2 namely the University Grants Commission ( “ UGC” ) is the nodal agency for implementing the NFSC scheme, and respondent No. 3 is a Public Sector Undertaking under respondent No. 1 and is the fellowship disburs ing agency for the NFSC scheme. 3. The petitioner applied for UGC-NET December 2020 cycle, and the examination took place on 29.11.2021.The petitioner subsequentl y qualified the exam vide result dated 19.02.2022 and became eligible for Assistant Professor. At the time of applying for the UGC-NET December 2020 cycle, i.e. on 26.02.2021, the petitioner was not enrolled in any Ph.D. cou rse, and the petitioner had mentioned the same while applying for the aforesai d exam in the relevant column titled “Research/M.Phil/Ph.D./Ex-Serviceman details” , which reads as under: This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 12/01/2026 at 12:19:23 This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 12/01/2026 at 12:19:23 4. Subsequently, after applying for the UGC-NET December 2020 cycle, the petitioner secured admission to the Ph.D. course at the Department of History, AMU, Aligarh, on 24.03.2021. 5. The respondent No. 2, vide notification dated 16.06.2022 issued second list of candidates qualified for the award of fellowship under the NFSC Scheme for the December 2020/June 2021 cycle of UGC-NET. The petitioner also qualified for the fellowship in the said list. 6. The eligibility criteria for the award of fellowship to pursue M.Phil . and Ph.D. under the NFSC scheme reads as under: “i. Fellowships shall be awarded to candidates for pursuing regular and full time M.Phil./Ph.D. courses in Universities/ Research Institutions recognized by UGC. ii. Scheduled Castes candidates who have already secured admission and qualify NET examination will be given preference. Such candidates will be required to join the fellowship within 3 months of the issue of the JRF award letter. iii. In case sufficient candidates, who have already secured admission are not available, candidates who have not yet secured admission will also be selected in the order of merit in the NET examination. Such candidates will be eligible to receive fellowship under National Fellowship for SC scheme, subject to admission for M.Phil./Ph.D. in Universities/IITs/Institutions. A field sho uld be added by the UGC in the application to capture the current educational status of the student. Such students, who have either cleared their post graduate course or are in their final year of the This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 12/01/2026 at 12:19:23 course, shall be given preference for selection and would be allowed up to one year from selection to join. For other students a period of three years from the date of issue of award letter shall continue to be allowed for joining. iv. A scholar is eligible to receive only one fellowship at a time. The scholar is required to declare that he/she will not accept/receive any other monetary benefit/scholarship/fellowship from any other source. In other words, a scholar who is awarded fellowship under this scheme shall not accept any other fellowship/scholarship o r hold any appointment, paid or otherwise, or receive any emoluments, salary, stipend etc. from any other source during the tenure of the award (except in case of 'academic leave’ of one year). In case, a scholar is already in receipt of any scholarship/fellowship, he/she will have to relinquish either th e previous scholarship/fellowship/any other monetary benefit or to forgo the selection under this scheme. v. A scholar who does not complete his/her research work during the period of fellowship shall not be eligible to apply again und er this scheme. Similarly, a scholar who has completely or partiall y availed any of these fellowship for Ph.D. earlier shall also not b e eligible for fellowship under this scheme. vi. After two years of joining JRF, if the progress in the researc h work of the awardee is found satisfactory, his/her tenure will be extended for a further period of three years as Senior Research Fellowship (SRF) as per UGC Fellowship Guidelines issued from time to time in case of students enrolled for Ph.D. or M.Phil. +Ph.D. This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 12/01/2026 at 12:19:23 vii. With regard to combined course of M.Phil and Ph.D., Fellowship will be provided initially for 02 years for M.Phil an d after upgradation to Ph.D course, for another 03 years. viii. The fellowship shall be paid from date of issue of JRF award letter under the Scheme for National Fellowship or date of joinin g of the M.Phil./Ph.D., whichever is later. ix. In case of integrated Ph.D. or M.Phil. to Ph.D., the maximum tenure is 5 years including M.Phil. period of fellowship. For doing M.Phil., fellowship shall be granted for two years or upto the date of submission of M.Phil. dissertation, whichever is earlier. x. The maximum allowed gap period for continuation from M.Phil. to Ph.D. under this scheme shall be 2 years (from the date of declaration of result of M.Phil to date of admission to Ph.D.). However, the total tenure of fellowship shall remain five years excluding the gap period. No fellowship shall be paid during the gap period. xi. The fellowship shall be granted upto the date of submission o f Ph.D. thesis or five years of tenure, whichever is earlier. No extension is permissible beyond the total period of five years of fellowship. xii.Employees of any University/College/Educational Institution/Central/ State/ UT Government shall be excluded from availing Fellowship, even if they are on Study Leave or Extra Ordinary Leave to pursue the M.Phil./Ph.D. course.” 7. On 20.09.2022, a Fellowship Award Letter was issued by the respondent no. 2 to the petitioner and the same is reproduced as under: This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 12/01/2026 at 12:19:23 This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 12/01/2026 at 12:19:23 8. Despite the Fellowship Award Letter, respondent No. 3 has not released the fellowship amount in favour of the petitioner. 9. Mr. Kanth, learned counsel for respondent No. 3, has drawn my attention to paragraphs 3 and 4 of the counter-affidavit, which read as under : “3. That the petitioner requested to the University Grants Commission for the rectification of the discrepancy in the status of the petitioner but till date respondent No.2 has not rectified t he status of the petitioner, therefore, the answering respondent No. 3 is unable to process the release of the fellowship under National Fellowship for Scheduled Caste Students (NFSC) Scheme. 4. That the answering respondent No.3 will not process the releas e of the fellowship amount alongwith the arrears from the date o f declaration of result for the National Fellowship for Scheduled Caste Students to the petitioner from 19.02.2022 till the rectification of the discrepancies in the status of the petiti oner by the respondent No.2 i.e. University Grants Commission.” 10. A perusal of the aforementioned paragraphs shows that the only ground for non-release of the fellowship amount is the inaction on par t of the respondent no. 2 to make the required rectification of the discrepancies in the status of the petitioner. 11. Admittedly, despite the opportunity, respondent No. 1 and 2 hav e not filed a counter-affidavit, and there is no document on record to show that there is any discrepancy in the Fellowship Award Letter dated 20.09.2022, issued in favour of the petitioner. 12. Once there is a Fellowship Award Letter issued by the respondent No.2 and the same has not been withdrawn/set aside/modified, respon dent This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 12/01/2026 at 12:19:23 No. 3 cannot be permitted to deny the benefits of the said Fellowshi p Award. 13. For the said reasons, the petition is allowed. The respondent No . 3 shall release the arrears of the fellowship amount to the petitioner wit hin a period of 4 weeks from today and continue to pay the same in accordance with the Fellowship Award Letter dated 20.09.2022. 14. Accordingly, the petition is disposed of. JASMEET SINGH, J JANUARY 7, 2026/DM This is a digitally signed order. The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 12/01/2026 at 12:19:23