NEW DELHI: In a relief to a batch of students who dropped one year of study in engineering colleges to take IIT-Advanced exam after maximum attempts were increased to three, Supreme Court on Friday directed they be allowed to appear in the entrance exam which is their third attempt despite the joint admission board withdrawing its decision and restoring maximum attempts to two. JAB, through IIT-Kanpur, released the ‘Eligibility Criteria’ for candidates appearing for JEE-Advanced 2025 on November 5.
Students must not suffer for board’s flip-flops: SC
As per the criteria, a candidate can attempt JEE (Advanced) maximum three times in three consecutive years. But only 13 days later, the decision was recalled, reviving earlier criteria of maximum two attempts.
Observing that the students should not suffer because of flip flops by the board, a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih said those who dropped out from their courses between Nov 5 and Nov 18, 2024, be allowed to make third attempt to get into IITs by taking JEE-Advanced.
“If the students, acting on the said representation (of Nov 5), have dropped from their course with an understanding that they would be entitled to appear for the JEE exam, withdrawal of the promise on Nov 18, 2024 cannot be permitted to act to their detriment,” the SC bench observed.
The court, however, made it clear that the benefit of its order would be confined to only those who dropped out of college between Nov 5 and Nov 18, 2024. SC was hearing two petitions, including one filed by 22 aspirants, challenging the reduction in number of attempts available to aspirants for JEE-Advanced from three to two.
One of the petitioner students told the apex court that he dropped the first year of his BTech course at NIT Silchar after the number of attempts was increased but was left in the lurch after the decision was withdrawn, which was done in an arbitrary manner.