The Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused to postpone the entrance exam for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for the 2023 academic year. According to the court, a ruling would have an adverse effect on future examinations and reinstated a judgement by the Supreme Court (SC) that it is not for the court to intervene in such matters even if än educational policy is ‘not good’. The National Testing Agency (NTA) has also amended the eligibility criteria and made a fresh notification today.
A bench of Justices Sandeep V Marne and SV Gangpurwala refused to entertain a petition filed by Anubha Srivastava Sahai, who had urged the NTA to remove the 75 per cent eligibility criterion for the entrance exam from January 2023. The petitioner also claimed that many students from class 12 will be participating in the practical or vivas for their board examinations.
She also stated that the examinations for the Class 12 board, including the ICSE and HSC, are scheduled to begin in February. This will make the calendar for the students very chaotic.
However, the court refused to pass an order postponing the entrance exam. The bench noted that if the orders were passed, the same would have a çascading effect” on the entire exam cycle. It also stated that the extraordinary circumstances did not justify restraining respondents from conducting the January examinations when lakhs of students are already preparing for the papers.
According to the court, the Supreme Court has already stated that it is not able to interfere in matters related to educational policies even if they are not good. The court also noted that the judicial review of such matters is ‘negligible.’
The JEE Main Session 1 examination will be conducted on January 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31, 2023 as per the original schedule.
In her petition, the student advocate requested that if the exam could not be postponed, then an additional attempt should be made in May 2023. However, the court refused to pass an order and asked her to approach the court with an interim application.
In her petition, Sahai has requested the NTA to withdraw the 75 per cent eligibility criterion, as the marks that students get in the previous year’s examinations are not a true representation of their actual ability. The court has scheduled a hearing on this matter on February 21.
NTA reviews eligibility conditions for participating in CSABs
NTA, however taking cognisance of the matter and in view of the demands of the students has decided to amend the eligibility for admission to NITs, IITs and CFTIs through Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB)
“For the candidates who qualify for admission in the NITs, IIITs and such other CFTIs whose admissions are based on the JEE (Main) ranks, they should have secured at least 75% marks in the Class 12 examination or be in the top 20 percentile in Class 12 examination conducted by respective Boards.” the new fresh notification said. For SC / ST candidates, the qualifying marks should be 65% in the Class 12 examination.
