HC adjourns hearing on postponement of JEE Mains to Jan 10

The division bench directed the petitioner to furnish a copy of the rules which are the basis of her PIL – which has challenged the requirement of 75% marks in HSC for admissions to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT).

Mumbai: The Bombay high court, on Wednesday, adjourned the hearing on a public interest litigation (PIL) – which sought the postponement of JEE Mains – to January 10. The division bench directed the petitioner to furnish a copy of the rules which are the basis of her PIL – which has challenged the requirement of 75% marks in HSC for admissions to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT).

Advocate Rui Rodrigues for the National Testing Agency (NTA) – which conducts the JEE Mains – said that the PIL was deficient as it had failed to attach the brochure of rules that were under challenge. Rodrigues further stated that the requirement of 75% marks was for admission to IITs and not for appearing for the JEE Mains and any student with lesser marks could also appear for the examinations. (Getty Images)

The bench of acting chief justice S V Gangapurwala and justice Sandeep Marne, while hearing the PIL by Anubha Sahai, was informed by advocate Joseph Thate that the JEE mains exams were crucial for students as they only had six attempts. Thate further said that the timing of the exams would clash with the HSC prelims and viva voce and therefore it should be postponed to April 2023.

However, the main thrust of the PIL was on the eligibility criteria of 75% marks in HSC exams which was being challenged. Thate further stated that the 75% marks criteria was not there last year and was included in the JEE main brochure this year.

The bench was further informed that as many candidates were from batches that were assessed for board exams based on previous years’ performance due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there were students with less than 75% marks but could perform well in JEE Mains. The petition stated that if the criteria were not set aside, it would affect the future of many students.

However, advocate Rui Rodrigues for the National Testing Agency (NTA) – which conducts the JEE Mains – said that the PIL was deficient as it had failed to attach the brochure of rules that were under challenge.

Rodrigues further stated that the requirement of 75% marks was for admission to IITs and not for appearing for the JEE Mains and any student with lesser marks could also appear for the examinations.

After hearing the submissions, the bench sought to know why the rules under challenge were not annexed to the PIL. Thate assured that it would be done and sought time, which the bench accepted and adjourned the hearing.