The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition challenging the reduction of attempts allowed for aspirants of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE)-Advanced from three to two.
The matter was presented before a bench comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and Augustine George Masih, where the petitioner’s counsel highlighted the issue concerning eligibility for the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) admission test.
The lawyer argued that the Joint Admission Board (JAB), which oversees the JEE-Advanced, had altered the eligibility criteria in an “arbitrary” manner.
According to the petition, filed by advocate Sanjeet Kumar Trivedi, JAB initially set the permissible number of attempts at three through a press release on November 5, 2024. However, just 13 days later, a second press release on November 18, 2024, reduced the attempts to two. This caused significant disruption for aspirants.
The plea contended that the sudden change violated principles of natural justice, legitimate expectations, and promissory estoppel. This, in turn, deprived many students of a fair chance to secure admission into prestigious IITs.
The court had previously directed the tagging of a similar plea listed on January 10.
