*1* 901 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD 901 WRIT PETITION NO. 10198 OF 2026 Syed Affan Ullah Aijaz Ullah And Others VERSUS The State Of Maharashtra Thr Its Chief Secretary And Others ... Mr. Mohammed Aamir And Mr. Kushal S. Morey, Advocate for the Petitioner Ms. N. B. Kamble, AGP for Respondents/State ... CORAM : NITIN B. SURYAWANSHI & ABASAHEB D. SHINDE, JJ. DATE : 27th AUGUST 2026 P. C. :- 1. The petitioner by this petition, filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has put forth prayer Clauses B and C, which read thus :- “B) By issuing writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ in like nature, the Respondents may kindly be directed to disburse the entire sectioned scholarship amount i.e. Tuition Fees, Accommodation, food and Living expenses, contingency allowance, international health surcharge cost, air fare cost in the bank account of the petitioners within a time-bound period as may be deemed fit by this Hon’ble Court. C) By issuing writ of mandamus or any other writ in like nature, the Respondents may kindly be directed to immediately pay the super priority VISA fees to the petitioners within a time- bound period as may be deemed fit by this Hon’ble Court.” 2. We have heard learned Advocate for the petitioner, learned AGP for Respondents/State. We have also perused the Narwade 2026:BHC-AUG:39554-DB *2* 901 grounds raised in the Writ Petition and the annexures thereto. 3. The petitioner is seeking the above directions as the petitioner claims to have been selected for admission in the University of Bristol, United Kingdom for the course Structure Engineering (Composit Materials and Sustainable Design). It is not in dispute that the petitioner is selected for the scholarship by the Respondent/State Government. His name appears at Serial No.25 in the select list of the students who are awarded the said scholarship. 4. Recently, the United Kingdom has changed their visa norms. It has refused the application of the petitioner on the following grounds :- “Reasons for Decision Your application has been refused for the following reason(s): You have claimed 10 points for funds under Paragraph 6.1 of Appendix Student of the Immigration Rules, however, the documents you have provided do not demonstrate that you are in possession of the required level of funds. Paragraphs FIN 8.1 and FIN 8.3 of Appendix Finance state: FIN 8.1. Funds may be held in any form of personal bank or building society account (including current, deposit, savings, pension from which the funds can be withdrawn or investment account) provided the account allows the funds to be accessed immediately. Narwade *3* 901 FIN 8.3. An applicant applying as a Student or Child Student, will meet the financial Requirements if they provide evidence of any of the following (or a combination of them) (a) money held in an account that meets the requirements set out in FIN 5.1. and FIN 8.1; or (b) funds provided by an official financial sponsor, which must be His Majesty's Government, the applicant's national government, the British Council or any international organisation, international company, university or Independent School; or (c) a student loan provided by: (i) a government, or (ii) a government sponsored student loan company, or (iii) an academic or educational loans scheme which is provided by a financial institution regulated for the purpose of issuing student loans by either the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or, in the case of an overseas loan, the official regulatory body for purpose of issuing student loans in the country the institution is in and where the money is held. You have submitted a financial sponsor letter from the State Government of Maharashtra, dated 07/05/2026, which does not meet the above criteria as your intended funds are not being provided by your national government. I am therefore not satisfied that you have achieved 10 points under paragraph 6.1 of Appendix Student and meet the requirements to be granted entry clearance under the Student Route. I therefore refuse your application under paragraphs FIN 8.1 and FIN 8.3 of Appendix Finance, ST 6.1 of Appendix Student of the Immigration Rules.” 5. In these facts, the petitioner has approached this Court with above mentioned prayers. 6. Learned AGP, on instructions submits that due to change of policy of the Visa by United Kingdom Government they are Narwade *4* 901 only accepting the student’s funds provided by an official financial sponsor, which must be His Majesty’s Government, the applicant's national government, the British Council or any international organisation, international company, university or Independent School, as mentioned in the above quoted letter. The petitioner has submitted a financial sponsor letter from the State Government of Maharashtra dated 07.05.2026, which does not meet the criteria mentioned in the said communication as the petitioner’s intended funds are not being provided by his national government. Government Resolution dated 23.11.2023 provides the guidelines for the scholarship being provided to the minority students for taking education abroad. Clause-9 (1) provides that the entire tuition fee mentioned by the University at abroad in the offer letter, would be paid to the said University by the authorized agency. In this view of the matter also the petitioner cannot claim that the entire scholarship amount and the other amount should be deposited in his personal account so as to enable him to get the Visa from the United Kingdom government. 7. Unfortunately, due to change in the visa policy by United Narwade *5* 901 Kingdom Government, the petitioner is not in a position to take education abroad. All our sympathies are with the petitioner but the sympathies cannot entitle the petitioner to any relief. We, therefore, find no merit in the petition. Writ Petition, is therefore, dismissed. (ABASAHEB D. SHINDE, J.) (NITIN B. SURYAWANSHI, J.) Narwade