The Supreme Court of India will hear a petition challenging the reduction of attempts for the JEE-Advanced from three to two. The petitioner argues this abrupt change affects many aspirants, lacks fairness, and violates their expectations, calling for the court to restore the original three-attempt policy to ensure equal opportunities for IIT admissions.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday (Jan 9th) agreed to hear a plea challenging the decision to reduce the number of attempts for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE)-Advanced from three to two.
A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih took up the matter after the petitioner’s counsel highlighted the significant implications of the change for aspirants seeking admission to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).
The petitioner’s counsel argued,
“This matter pertains to the IIT admission entrance examination in which the number of attempts have been reduced from three to two.”
The bench noted that a similar plea was scheduled for hearing on January 10 and directed the two matters to be tagged together for a comprehensive examination.
The plea, filed through Advocate Sanjeet Kumar Trivedi, challenges the Joint Admission Board’s (JAB) decision to modify the eligibility criteria for JEE-Advanced aspirants. According to the petition, the JAB had initially fixed the maximum number of attempts at three through a press release on November 5, 2024. However, within two weeks, on November 18, 2024, the board abruptly reduced the number of attempts to two.
“The abrupt changes in the eligibility criteria,” the plea stated, “have affected the petitioner as well as thousands of similarly situated persons, denying them a valuable opportunity to enter the IITs.”
The petitioner claims the change in eligibility criteria is:
- Arbitrary: The decision to reduce attempts lacks a fair and transparent rationale.
- Against Natural Justice: Students who planned their preparation strategy based on the earlier policy are now unfairly disadvantaged.
- Violative of Legitimate Expectations and Promissory Estoppel: Aspirants had legitimate grounds to expect continuity in the eligibility criteria announced earlier.
The petition seeks to set aside the November 18, 2024 press release, arguing that the sudden change has disqualified many students from appearing in the JEE-Advanced 2025 exam. It urges the court to restore the original policy of allowing three attempts for all candidates.
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