JEE-Advanced: Supreme Court agrees to hear plea against cut in exam attempts

Supreme Court to review plea challenging the reduction of JEE-Advanced attempts from three to two.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition challenging the decision to reduce the number of permissible attempts for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE)-Advanced from three to two.

During a hearing before Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih, the petitioner’s counsel highlighted the impact of this change on aspirants. “This pertains to the eligibility for the IIT admission test, where the number of attempts has been reduced arbitrarily,” the lawyer stated. The bench noted that a similar petition was listed for January 10 and directed both cases to be heard together.

The plea, filed by advocate Sanjeet Kumar Trivedi, raised concerns about the Joint Admission Board (JAB), responsible for conducting the JEE-Advanced, altering the eligibility criteria unfairly. According to the petition, JAB initially announced via a press release on November 5, 2024, that candidates would have three attempts at JEE-Advanced. However, just weeks later, on November 18, 2024, a second press release reduced the attempts to two.

The plea argued that this sudden revision in eligibility criteria was arbitrary and violated the principles of natural justice, affecting thousands of aspirants, including the petitioner. The petition further claimed that the change disregarded the principles of legitimate expectation and promissory estoppel, denying many students a fair opportunity to pursue admission to prestigious IITs.

Seeking to overturn the November 18, 2024 press release, the petition called for the restoration of the earlier criteria allowing three attempts. The abrupt change, it argued, has disqualified numerous students from appearing for the JEE-Advanced 2025, causing undue hardship.

The Supreme Court will now examine the merits of this plea as it delves into the legality of the decision and its impact on aspiring candidates.

(PTI Inputs)