The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed an IIT Kharagpur student to transfer to IIT Roorkee on medical grounds, invoking its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to do complete justice.

A Bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice R Mahadevan directed IIT Kharagpur to issue the necessary transfer/migration certificate and other documents within one week to enable the student to secure admission at IIT Roorkee. The Court noted that the student was undergoing treatment at Chandigarh for mental health.

The Court had earlier directed AIIMS, New Delhi, to medically evaluate the student and had also asked IIT Roorkee to keep one seat vacant pending consideration of his plea.

During the hearing, Senior Advocate Shobha Gupta, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the student was undergoing continuous treatment and required regular medication. She argued that the transfer was necessary as the student was receiving treatment at PGIMER, Chandigarh.

Counsel for IIT Roorkee, Advocate Shaiwal Srivastava, submitted that unlike some other IITs, IIT Roorkee did not have transfer rules and that each IIT functioned under its own Senate. When Gupta referred to transfer rules, Justice Nagarathna observed, "Then we will not refer to the Rules. We will just say Article 142."

Srivastava further argued that while the AIIMS report recorded that the student was suffering from depression and was under medication, it did not specifically conclude that his condition was so grave as to warrant transfer from one IIT to another.

Gupta responded that multiple medical reports placed before the Court established that the student's treatment was ongoing and required regular medication.

The Bench then asked IIT Roorkee to admit the student. When its counsel stated that the institute had no objection and left the matter to the Court, Justice Nagarathna directed that the student be admitted within one week. Although IIT Roorkee sought two weeks' time, Gupta pointed out that the student was already losing valuable academic time.

In its order, the Court recorded IIT Roorkee's submission that if the transfer was permitted, the student would have to join the first year of the B.Arch programme since the programme pursued at IIT Kharagpur was distinct and could not be continued through transfer.

The Court also noted IIT Roorkee's request that the order should not be treated as a precedent for future cases involving the institute. The petitioner's counsel informed the Bench that the student was willing to join the first year of the B.Arch course in view of his ongoing treatment at PGIMER, Chandigarh.

Allowing the plea, the Bench observed:

"The interest of justice would be served in the present case if a direction is issued to issue the necessary transfer/migration certificate and other documents pertaining to the petitioner so that he could take a transfer/migration and admission to IIT Roorkee."

The Court directed that the entire exercise be completed within one week.

Explaining the basis for its decision, the Bench said it had passed the order "bearing in mind the peculiar health issues faced by the petitioner" and the fact that he was undergoing treatment at Chandigarh while pursuing his studies at Kharagpur, making the distance between the two places a significant concern.

The Court clarified that the student would be required to comply with IIT Roorkee's fee structure and all other payment requirements after admission.

Case : XXX v. Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and others | WP(C) 889/2025