Administrative Delay Blues

I'm trying to prepare for DU LLB entrance and I'm totally stuck on this one - imagine a situation where the government launches a big scheme to provide subsidies to farmers. The subsidy application deadline is March 31st, but the government's website crashes on March 29th and doesn't come back up until April 2nd. My friend applies for the subsidy on April 2nd, only to find out that the deadline has already passed (although, technically, the website wasn't working!). Does my friend still qualify for the subsidy? If not, what legal remedy would apply in this situation?