JEE Superior SC verdict: Aspirants who dropped out between Nov 5-18 eligible for 3 makes an attempt underneath earlier JAB order
Supreme Courtroom Permits Extra JEE-Superior Try: The Supreme Courtroom has permitted college students who withdrew from schools between November 5 and November 18, 2024, to seem for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE)-Superior 3 times, adhering to the Joint Admission Board‘s (JAB) earlier notification. This directive comes after the eligibility standards for the examination, which had been expanded to permit three makes an attempt, have been abruptly lowered to 2 inside a span of 13 days.
The case was heard by a bench comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and Augustine George Masih. Senior advocate Ok. Parameshwar, showing for the petitioners, argued that the JAB’s determination to revise the eligibility standards mid-cycle was arbitrary and left many college students deprived. In line with reviews from LiveLaw, he emphasised that the preliminary notification from November 5 had promised eligibility to college students from the graduating courses of 2023, 2024, and 2025, main a number of college students to make life-altering choices based mostly on this assurance.
Abrupt coverage reversal sparks controversy
Parameshwar highlighted situations the place college students, performing on the JAB’s November 5 notification, had dropped out of their present school programs to organize for JEE-Superior, solely to seek out themselves excluded from eligibility after the standards have been revised on November 18. “Having held out a promise, they can not arbitrarily reverse their stance,” he contended, including that no justification was supplied for the sudden change in coverage.
Authorities defends two-attempt rule
The Solicitor Common of India, Tushar Mehta, representing the JAB, defended the choice to restrict makes an attempt to 2. He argued that permitting three makes an attempt might disrupt tutorial focus for college students who enroll typically engineering schools however proceed getting ready for IITs. In line with him, the revised coverage aimed to attenuate tutorial wastage by guaranteeing college students focused on their present programs after two unsuccessful makes an attempt at JEE-Superior.
Courtroom acknowledges circumstances of coverage change, grants interim aid for affected college students
Justice Gavai, nevertheless, famous the distinctive circumstances of this 12 months’s notification. The court docket acknowledged that whereas limiting makes an attempt could also be a sound coverage in precept, the abrupt reversal inside 13 days precipitated undue hurt to college students who had acted on the sooner notification. “If college students have acted on this understanding, the withdrawal can’t be allowed to work to their detriment,” Justice Gavai noticed, LiveLaw reported.
The court docket, balancing the pursuits of scholars and the JAB’s rationale, handed an interim order. It clarified that college students who had withdrawn from schools between November 5 and November 18, 2024, in reliance on the preliminary notification, could be permitted to register and seem for JEE-Superior as per the sooner eligibility standards permitting three makes an attempt.
