The Supreme Court on Friday granted relief to students who challenged the decision to reduce the number of attempts for the Joint Entrance Examination (Advanced) from three to two, ruling that petitioners who dropped out of their courses between Nov. 5, 2024, and Nov. 18, 2024, will be allowed to take the exam.
However, the court refused to interfere with the decision of the authorities to reduce the number of attempts for JEE Senior Advocate K Parmeshwar, representing the petitioners, argued, “Initially, it was decided to allow three attempts, but within thirteen days, it was revoked, which is arbitrary. On Nov. 5, you held out a promise that students would be eligible. Decisions have been made based on that, which are irreversible.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Joint Admission Board (JAB), defended the move.
“The decision was taken after it was found that students who had enrolled in regular engineering courses were focusing on JEE exams instead of their B.Tech coursework. This decision was made in the students’ interest and is a pure policy decision,” he told the bench.
After hearing the arguments, a bench of Justices BR Gavai and Augustine George Masih noted: “In the press release dated Nov. 5, 2024, a clear promise was made to students that those who appeared for the Class 12 exam in 2023, 2024, and 2025 would be eligible for JEE (Advanced). If students, acting on this representation, withdrew from their courses believing they would be entitled to appear, the withdrawal of this promise on Nov. 18, 2024, cannot work to their detriment.
“In the peculiar facts and circumstances, without commenting on the merits of JAB’s decision, students who withdrew from their courses and dropped out between Nov. 5, 2024, and Nov. 18, 2024, will be permitted to register for JEE (Advanced).”
The court clarified that it was not questioning the wisdom of the authorities. “For valid reasons, if respondent No. 2 [the JAB] restricted the zone of consideration to two years instead of three, no fault could be found with it,” the order stated.
The court’s order came in response to a plea by aspirants challenging the reduction in the attempt limit for JEE (Advanced).
On Nov. 5, 2024, the JAB announced that students would be allowed three attempts at the exam. However, just 13 days later, on Nov. 18, 2024, the decision was reversed, reducing the attempt limit to two.
